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Girl killed to propitiate goddess

Shireen in Hyderabad

In a macabre incident, a four-year-old girl was found murdered in a stone-crushing unit on the outskirts of Hyderabad in what is suspected by the police to be a case of human sacrifice.

According to the Hayathnagar (a Hyderabad suburb) police, the body of the girl, identified as P Vennela, was discovered in a stone-crushing machine. A garland was placed on the corpse.

The police also found some broken coconuts, incense sticks and blood marks on the machine, indicating that the hapless girl was killed to propitiate a goddess. The police are yet to make any arrests in connection with the incident.

"It appears to be a case of 'bali' (human sacrifice). We are probing into all aspects of the incident. We are yet to take anybody into custody but we have got sufficient clues about the culprits involved in this gory killing," a police official said, on the condition of anonymity.

He also refuted the allegation made by the locals that the police was trying to hush up the case.

The victim was one of the three children of a labourer, P Das. She was found missing by her mother P Balamma around 0300 hours on Monday.

When Balamma raised a hue and cry, her brother Venkatswamy searched the neighbourhood with a torch and found the body of Vennela on the crusher.

By around 0400 hours, the other labourers and their families rushed to the spot and were shell-shocked at the gruesome sight. The watchman of the crushing unit immediately informed the owner.

Subsequently, the owner Malakondaiah came to the place and later went away.

Das, his sister's husband Pentaiah and his wife's brother Venkatswamy consumed liquor at their hut till late in the night. Later, Das, Pentaiah and Venkatswamy slept outside the hut while Balamma slept inside, along with her three children-- a son and two daughters.

The family suspected that some persons might have taken away the girl in the wee hours when the inmates were asleep. The hut was located about 200 metres away from the crusher unit.

Das and Balamma had migrated to Hayathnagar from Sadhupalli village in Thimmajipet mandal in neighbouring Mahbubnagar district.

They were employed in the crushing unit along with 100 other labourers who hailed mostly from Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts.

The Hayathnagar police, who registered a case of suspicious death, took up the investigation. Some suspects were also being interrogated.

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