12-Year-Old Girl Beheaded, Sacrificed By Brother To Appease Goddess, Headless Body Recovered

A man in the Indian state of Odisha was arrested Monday for sacrificing his 12-year-old sister to appease a goddess.

The victim, identified as Janani Rana, had left home with the accused, 28-year-old Subhoban Rana, on Dec.24. Her parents filed a missing person’s report the following day when the girl did not return home. The villagers told the investigators that they believed that Subhoban was behind the girl’s disappearance as he was out on bail in another case related to human sacrifice. The accused was detained for questioning.

“The accused confessed to murdering his sister Janani to propitiate Goddess Durga. After he confessed to his crime, we arrested him and took our team to a forest where we recovered the girl’s headless body,” a police officer said.

The accused has sacrificed his friend’s nine-year-old nephew in October 2019 and was released on bail a few days before he killed his sister. He remained in custody as of Tuesday and the body was sent for autopsy.

The incident comes a few months after a man in the same state sacrificed his 12-year-old nephew for good crop harvest. Chintamani Majhi lured the victim to a field and attacked the boy and severed his head with an ax before fleeing. The boy’s brother found the victim’s severed head and alerted the villagers who informed the police. Majhi was arrested and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime.