In-depth: Selected via Whatsapp, 10-year-old Ayesha was 'sacrificed' to cure paralysis
- Another horrific murder in the name of 'black magic' has been uncovered.
- 10-year-old Ayesha from Sunakal was murdered to cure paralysis
- Police shared the details of the murder and the strange beliefs that were behind it.
FollowThe murder of 10-year-old Ayesha was a shock to Magadi residents, who found her body. However, as police investigated further and made a few arrests, the full extent of the horrific murder began to emerge.
As per a report in The Hindu, Mohammed Wasil is a small-time businessman in Sunakal, Magadi. His brother, Mohammed Rafiq, had suffered a paralytic stroke and had been living in Wasil's home for some time.
Wasil and his sister Rashidunnisa believed that black magic could cure Rafiq. Their father used to be a black magic practitioner, but he had grown too old to perform the rituals. The sibling approached Naseema Taj, who lived in Bengaluru and was once a student of their father.
"She used to operate from her (Gowripalya) residence in Bengaluru and was brought to Magadi where the murder and rituals took place," HL Nandish, circle inspector, Magadi, told the Times of India.
Taj agreed to conduct the ritual, claimed that Rafiq was possessed by 'evil spirits' and the sacrifice of a child would 'appease' those spirits and cure Rafiq. She allegedly claimed Rafiq would be cured if they murdered a child in 40 days.
Agreeing to this unhinged plan, Wasil and Rashidunnisa looked around for a suitable child in their village. According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, Wasil sent pictures of eight children, from which Taj selected Ayesha. Wasil in an uncle to Ayesha, as he is distantly related to her father. Ayesha was 10-years-old and studied in the fourth standard.
On March 1, Wasil and a minor, who was also known to both Taj and Wasil, kidnapped Ayesha at 8 pm. The minor has not been named, as per legal stipulations. The two took Ayesha to a plot belonging to Wasil, where Naseema Taj performed her 'ritual', after which Wasil killed the girl.
The body was then dumped in a canal a short distance away.
Ayesha's father, Mohammed Nurulla Gulab, began to frantically search for his daughter after 10 pm on March 1. He eventually discovered a lock of hair and her hairpin in Wasil's plot, surrounded by suspicious items like a lemon and vermillion-coloured powder sprinkled on the ground. He approached the police and informed them of his discoveries.
Meanwhile, local residents also discovered Ayesha's body and also informed the police. When police investigated, they also found tell-tale signs of black magic rituals - a lemon tied around a leg, for example.
Ramanagara police verified that the discovered body was indeed of Ayesha and arrested Wasil, Rashidunnisa, Naseema Taj, the minor and two others in connection with the case, after investigating.
Police say the accused have confessed to the crime.
