Seven-year-old boy sacrificed to goddess Kali

Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar

A seven-year-old boy, Sitakanta Behera, was sacrificed on the night of October 1 apparently to appease goddess Kali, police said on Friday.

Behera was kidnapped from his house, in Ranjagola village in Dhenkanal district, on the night of September 29 while he was asleep.

His father Pramod Behera lodged a complaint at local Balimi police station after which a police team led by district Deputy Superintendent of Police Banamali Mishra searched for the kidnappers.

The police picked Arta Sahu (23) from Ranjagola village, who confessed to kidnapping and sacrificing Sitakanta before goddess Kali in a temple located in a nearby forest in the same district.

Sahu said he had a dream that he would die if he did not sacrifice the boy to the deity.

When the police team raided the temple, they discovered severed body parts from different pits around the temple.

"We have arrested Sahu and registered a murder case against him under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code," a district police official told rediff.com.