Over child sacrifice:
Four arrested in Nepal
NEPAL: Nepali police said Thursday they had arrested four
people in connection with the death of an eight-year-old girl believed
to have been killed in a human sacrifice.
Police said the child’s throat had been slit and her body pierced
with a sharp weapon. Local media reported her blood was found inside a
brick kiln along with religious offerings of money and food.
“The circumstances of the killing in early December suggest the girl
was sacrificed,” local police official Narhari Adhikari told AFP from
Rupandehi district in the south of Nepal.
“We have arrested four people including the owner of the brick kiln
on charges of murder.
“Two of those arrested confessed they killed the girl as an offering
to the gods to bring good fortune to the business,” he added.
Mainly Hindu Nepal is deeply traditional and religious rituals are a
part of everyday life in the impoverished country. Around 80 percent of
the 27 million-strong population are Hindu.
Nepal outlawed human sacrifices in 1780 but experts say it is still
practised by some communities in poor rural areas.
“Some people still believe sacrificing human beings will appease the
gods, improve their fortunes and raise their social status,” said Chunda
Bajracharya, professor of cultural studies at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan
University.
“Such beliefs are the outcome of extreme ignorance,” she said.
Kathmandu, Friday, AFP
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