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5-Year-Old Boy Taken From Nursery, Brutally Beheaded In Witchcraft Ritual: Suspect Pays The Price

By Meaghan Ellis
Published on: 14:22 PST, Oct 2, 2015

A disturbing report about the recent kidnapping of a five-year-old Indian boy has garnered international attention. According to Mirror Online, Tirumala Rio has been accused of taking the boy from a nursery inside a Prakasam district health center. After seizing the child, the 35-year-old suspect allegedly transported the boy back to his home where he killed him. It has been reported that the boy was used as a human sacrifice for a witchcraft-related ritual known as pujas.

According to First Post, pujas is a South Asian religious ritual performed as an act of worship. The incident, which reportedly took place on Wednesday, September 30, led to the boy’s demise. As part of the ritual, Rao allegedly beheaded the boy and placed all of his blood into a vessel. Investigators have revealed that the blood was “sprinkled all over his house.” The boy’s disappearance went unnoticed until his mother returned at the end of the day to pick him up. She was told Rao picked up her son. Although no news outlets have reported whether or not Rao was of any relation to the child, it has been confirmed that Rao did take the child.

Shortly after the boy’s disappearance was made public, a group of villagers began searching. When the mother arrived at Rao’s home, along with the villagers, no one answered. Suspecting something was terribly wrong, the mother forced her way into Rao’s home and that’s where she found her son’s lifeless body. According to Indian Express, her agonizing screams caught the attention of the villagers who rushed to her aid. They reportedly saw the boy’s scattered body parts, with his head separated from his body. His mother is said to have fainted in the wake of the horrifying discovery.

Fox News reports that a “utensil” filled with blood was found near the boy’s body and that the scene “appeared to be an offering to a deity.” Rao was initially nowhere to be found. Villagers immediately began working to locate Rao and it didn’t take long for them to find him.

Investigators detailed the gruesome attack Rao suffered for the boy’s death. Once he was captured by the villagers, he was tied to a pole and tortured. Rao, accused of sorcery and murder by villagers, was brutally beaten, doused with kerosene and set on fire. However, that’s not all. They were also preparing to lynch him as he reportedly insisted that he could “bring the boy back to life,” but others intervened. According to Parhlo, Rao was rescued by police and transported to a local hospital. Due to his critical condition, he was later transported to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ongole.

Superintendent of police Ch. Srikanth recently spoke to news outlets with details about the series of events that took place. Apparently, the chaotic incident was a “first-of-its-kind,” according to Ch. Srikanth. ”This is a first-of-its-kind incident in Prakasam district. Once he recovers, he will be subjected to questioning after an examination of his mental condition by a psychiatrist.” At this point, no criminal charges have been brought against Rao. But based on his rumored reputation around the village, there is a strong possibility he will be charged.

According to Mirror Online, Rao has a reputation of “keeping ties with practitioners of tantric rituals.” On Tuesday night, just hours before he kidnapped the boy, he reportedly “made an unsuccessful attempt to abduct an 18-month-old girl.” Luckily, his attempt was unsuccessful, because she may have suffered the same fate if she’d been captured. It has been reported that the investigation will be ongoing.

[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

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