UP: Man beheads 60-year-old as human sacrifice, arrested

A man has been taken into custody in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district for allegedly chopping off the head of an elderly man (60) as a human sacrifice to please a deity and seemingly hurry on the marriage of his and his sibblings.

The incident happened on Thursday and the accused was taken into custody, hours later. Villagers stated that Shukla and his five brothers were unmarried and, earlier, a priest had visited them. "The priest had told them if they beheaded an old man in his sleep, their marriages would be solemnised soon. It was to be done to please a deity," one of the villagers told the media.

Rajnath Singh, SHO, Colonelganj, said that the accused, Uday Prakash Shukla, 25, did not have any dispute or feud with the victim Baburam or his family. "We are trying to ascertain what prompted him to take this step. A sharp-edged weapon recovered and would be presented as evidence in court," he said.

Further, Singh stated that following the murder, Shukla started making loud noises. He then asked people to get him arrested. "In the lock-up, he kept on uttering some words which could not be deciphered," he said.

In the time of interrogation, the accused told the police that he had no problem with the victim, but had chopped his head off as a human sacrifice to please the deity.

Further investigations are underway to find out who prompted the accused to commit the crime.

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