Amethi, June 14: A four-year-old boy was allegedly killed at a village here after his stepmother was told that a child had to be sacrificed so that she could bear one of her own, police said on Wednesday.

The police arrested four persons, including the stepmother and a man described as a “tantric” (occultist), after the missing child's body was found near a pond in Rehsi village in the Jamo area here on Monday. Uttarakhand Shocker: Couple Found Dead in Dehradun With 5-Day-Old Baby Crying Near Bodies, Police Suspect Suicide.

Amethi Superintendent of Police Elamaran G said the boy, Satyendra, went out to play on Sunday but did not return home that day. His father Jitendra Prajapati lodged a missing complaint on Monday around 3 pm.

Three hours later, a few villagers informed him that Satyendra's boy was found in a drain, Elamaran added. Based on suspicion, Jitendra lodged a complaint against his wife Renu, father-in-law Mangru Prajapati, mother-in-law Prema Devi and the occultist Dayaram Yadav, the police said.

During interrogation, Mangru and Prema Devi told the police that around a year-and-a-half ago, they married off their daughter Renu to Jitendrai, whose first wife had left him. Satyendra is Jitendra's son from his first wife, the SP said. Hyderabad Shocker: Eight-Year-Old Boy Brutally Murdered, Family Suspect Human Sacrifice; Transgender Among Five Arrested.

However, Renu remained ill most of the time after her marriage to Jitendra and also suffered from a miscarriage, he added. To address Renu's concerns, her parents contacted occultist Dayaram Yadav, who told them that Jitendra's first child had to be sacrificed for Renu to conceive. The body was later found in a drain near a pond, the SP said.

The police recovered a towel, a few lemons, nutmegs and other items used in occultism from the burial spot, the SP said. A case has been registered against the accused under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)