Man Sacrificed His Children As Part Of Ritual, Beheaded Wife For Screaming

A man was arrested Thursday after he killed his children and beheaded his wife in Talensi district of Ghana.

The accused, identified as 35-year-old Collins Yagbil, dragged his eight-year-old son into a shrine Thursday morning before sacrificing him to the gods as part of a ritual. His daughter, who was witnessing the “sacrifice,” started screaming. This angered Yagbil who then caught hold of the girl, cut off her hands before beheading her. He then sprinkled their blood on a rock.

Sensing something wrong, his wife arrived at the scene and saw the children lying in a pool of blood on the rock. She screamed for help, trying to draw the attention of the neighbors. However, in an attempt to silence her, Yagbil attacked and beheaded her as well. The wife’s family members asked the community members to lynch the accused, however, they handed him over to police.

Speaking to local media Tuesday, the woman’s family members said Yagbil started “behaving funny” sometime back. They assumed the man was possessed by the spirits. However, the relatives said they did not know the man had some “mental” issues until he committed the crime Thursday. The investigation was ongoing and it was not clear what caused the man to sacrifice the children.

The incident comes less than a month after a man beheaded and sacrificed his 12-year-old nephew for good crop harvest in the Indian state of Odisha. The man, identified as 48-year-old Chintamani Majhi, lured the victim to a field where he attacked the boy with a sharp object before beheading him with an axe and fleeing from the scene. The victim’s brother, who was working at a nearby land, reached the scene after hearing the victim’s screams and saw the boy’s severed head. He alerted the villagers who informed the police. Majhi was caught and arrested the same day and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime and said he sacrificed his nephew for good crop harvest.