Children Beheaded By Mentally Unstable Man, Bodies Found Buried In Sand

A mentally unstable man was arrested after he beheaded two minor children in the Indian state of Jharkhand on Thursday.

Police said the incident came to light after the headless bodies of the victims, aged 11 and 12, were found buried in sand in front of the 35-year-old accused’s home. The unnamed man, who was on the run, was taken into custody Thursday evening.

"The accused used to run a shop in his house. When the girl arrived there on Wednesday night he tried to abuse her and the boy reached there by chance, he took them inside his house and beheaded them with an axe. The weapon has been recovered from him," a police officer said.

Following the arrest, the accused was admitted to a nearby hospital after he showed signs of mental illness. Meanwhile, the head of the boy was found buried a few meters away from the body, while the head of the other victim was not found. Police say the accused was misguiding them about the location of the girl’s head. Following an autopsy, the bodies of both the victims were handed over to the families for burial. Though the villagers believed it to be a case of “human sacrifice,” police rejected such claims.

"It is not a case of human sacrifice or black magic as suspected by a section of the villagers,” police said, adding the accused, who was charged with killing two of his family members over a dispute a decade ago, was on bail when he killed the children. The investigation was ongoing to find out the reason behind the killing.

In a similar incident in Jharkhand in February, a mentally unstable man killed five family members with an axe before setting the house on fire. Police said Chunnu Soren entered the room and attacked the family members one by one while they were sleeping. Though the reason behind the killings was not known, police said the man was mentally unstable and was also drunk when the incident took place.