Girl killed as part of treasure hunt ritual

A five-year-old Indian girl died after holy men advised a group to perform a torture ritual on her in the hope of finding treasure, it was reported today.

The parents of Reshma Jadhav returned to their hut in a village near Mumbai to find their daughter missing.

They had left her with her three-year-old sibling to attend a wedding nearby.

Her father Deepak reported her disappearance at a police station, and told officers a few villagers had picked a fight with him the previous night.

He added that he suspected them of kidnapping his daughter. Police later detained two men involved in the incident.

“We worked on the information and detained Ramesh Wagh, 22, and Pintya Wagh, 19, who had fought with Deepak,” senior inspector A N Matekar told Indian newspaper Mumbai Mirror.

Three days later, the police found the child’s body near a dam nearly two miles from the village. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries.

“She had been physically tortured. Her hair had been pulled out. We suspected some sacrificial ritual and questioned two tantriks (holy men) – Qazi Dawood Sheikh and Bandhu Tukaram Wagh,” the policeman added.

The two, aged 50 and 40 respectively, allegedly admitted to the crime during questioning.

Ramesh and Pintya Wagh along with the two holy men and five others were reportedly involved in the incident.

Sheikh allegedly told the men that a treasure was buried underneath a tamarind tree near their village. To get to the treasure they had to perform a ritual ceremony on a young girl.

“A puja needed to be performed on a young girl to get this wealth,” Mr Matekar said. “On Sheikh’s instructions, the other men abducted Reshma who died during the ritual.

“Ramesh and another man carried her body on a motorcycle and dumped it near the dam,” he added.

The four men are now in custody. Five more accused have absconded since Reshma went missing on April 22.

The girl’s parents were so shaken they left the village and are staying with relatives.