Dumb news stories

[Uncle]

tragic but still dumb so this thread I guess

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/uttar-pradesh/11-year-old-boy-killed-as-sacrifice-for-schools-prosperity-in-uttar-pradeshs-hathras-by-owner-five-held/article68689573.ece

A student of Class 2 was killed as part of an alleged “sacrificial ritual” performed by the owners of his school in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district to make it more “prosperous”, State police said on Friday (September 27, 2024).

Police said the incident took place at DL Public School, when owner Jasodhan Singh, who is said to believe in ‘tantrik’ rituals, asked his son Dinesh Baghel, the school’s director, to sacrifice a child for the “prosperity” of the school and his family. The school had a low number of students enrolled in the classes, and Mr. Singh had also taken a loan for starting the residential school, which is located in Rasgwan village in the Sahapau area of the district.

Besides the owner and director of the school, the principal and two teachers identified as Laxman Singh, Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh, respectively, were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing that took place on September 23, they said. A murder case has also been registered.

According to the police, the post-mortem report of the child, identified as Kritarth, revealed that he was strangled to death.

Hathras Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ashok Kumar Singh said that on September 23, the student was abducted from the school’s hostel by Ramprakash Solanki, Dinesh Baghel, and Jasodhan Singh.

They took the student to a secluded place for the sacrifice, but the student woke up and began crying, the officer said, adding that they strangulated him in a hurried manner. “Another teacher, Veerpal Singh and school principal, Laxman Singh, were also present at the spot and were guarding the place,” he said.

The police said the child lived in the school’s hostel that is located inside the school premises. Basic Education Officer (Hathras) Swati Bharti issued an order to shut the school and issued an order for an inquiry into the matter, following which, a case will also be registered with the police on the alleged negligence. She said the school ran without permission for Classes 1 to 8 and that the hostel was running illegally.

Before the incident, there was a plan to sacrifice another child on September 6, but it failed after that boy raised an alarm when he was being strangulated. When the boy underwent a medical examination later, it was found that an attempt was made to strangle him.