Police have arrested the owner of a private school, his son, and three other teachers for killing of a class two student allegedly in a "black magic" ritual in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras city.
The victim - Kritarth, 11, was "sacrificed" at the hostel of DL Public School Rasgawan- a private school — on Sep 23, to bring "success" to the school. The accused were arrested on Sep 27 following a complaint filed by the victim’s father, Krishan Kushwaha, police said.
Police identified the accused as Jasodhan Singh, owner of the school, and his son, Dinesh Baghel — the director of the school. The identity of three teachers arrested in the gruesome killing remains unascertained.
According to police, the father of the school director believed in "black magic" and is believed to have spearheaded the heinous crime.
The accused wanted to kill the boy near a tubewell outside the school, the police sources were quoted as saying. However, as they were taking him out of the hostel, he started screaming, forcing them to strangle him to death.
During the investigation, items related to "black magic" were found near the school, police said in a statement. The accused had earlier tried to "sacrifice" another 9-year-old student on Sep 6 but had failed, it added.
Father of the victim said that he received a call from the school administration on Sep 23 informing him that his son had fallen ill.
When he reached the school, the authorities told him that the school director had taken his son to a hospital in his car, police said. He later recovered his son's body from Baghel's car.
