Trigger warning: The following article contains potentially disturbing material; Please refrain from reading if you feel disturbed by violence.
AleLike many children across India, nine-year-old Rohit (name changed to protect privacy) loved playing football. Every day after school, just before lunch, he used to run for a quick game with his friends at Sayali, a tribal settlement located about 7 km from Silvassa in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu . ,
afternoon of 29 December 2022 when her grandmother Jaliben was cooking team, Rice (lentils and rice) on soil stove (earthen stove) In an open kitchen, the boy went out to play as usual. Ms. Jaliben waited. and waited. That was the last time he saw his grandson.
By evening, the enraged grandmother, her husband and the boy’s grandfather, and their son, the boy’s father, launched a search in the village, starting near the Damanganga canal, and all the places where the boy had been. They shouted his name, their anxiety extreme, but in vain.
“We searched for him everywhere in the village. I was crying out loud – Rohit, Rohit, Rohit – but my younger son was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t take his lunch or evening tea and it was time for dinner. The boy must have been very hungry,” Ms Jaliben said in Gujarati, crying.
The next afternoon, nearly 24 hours after Rohith went missing, family members along with community heads and villagers went to the Silvassa police station to file a complaint.
After preliminary inquiry, the police have registered a case of kidnapping against unknown people as she is a minor. They formed teams and started investigation.
Two days after he went missing, on 31 December, Silvassa sub-inspector Anil Kumar TK, who is part of the investigation team, received a phone call from the neighboring Gujarat police, while his own search was on.
He was asked whether a case of abduction (or missing person) was registered in his jurisdiction after he found the headless body of a child of about 10 years old in the Damanganga canal near Karwad village in Gujarat’s Valsad district.
Within an hour of the call, Mr Kumar and his team, along with the boy’s father, reached Karwad, about 15 km from Sayli. when he saw body with only trunk and armsThe father started crying bitterly. she recognized her son from Molly (sacred red thread) on his wrist.
However, the police are yet to conclude that it was indeed Rohit’s body and are awaiting the DNA report. “We have collected samples [blood and bone] father and of the body and sent them to the forensic laboratory in Surat,” said Mr. Kumar.
Silvassa Police Station in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. , Photo Credit: Emmanuel Yogini
shock and awe
while killing the child What came as a doubly shock to Ms. Jaliben and her family was the brutal manner in which the child was murdered, with body parts being chopped off by the killers. The villagers and family allege that the child has become a victim of witchcraft.
Considering the brutality of the crime and the alleged human sacrifice angle, police officials widened the scope of the investigation and more than 100 police personnel were assigned different tasks to crack the case.
They collected video footage from surveillance cameras installed near the hamlet and its surrounding areas to zero in on the culprits. Investigators questioned residents of the village, besides shopkeepers and industrial workers, to gather leads. Mobile phone call detail records were analyzed and the village and the areas near the canal were searched.
While examining the video footage, the police noticed that Rohit was walking with a teenager in a black hoodie, face covered with a handkerchief and a plastic bag in his hand.
Villagers identified the man in the black hoodie as a 16-year-old boy who worked at a chicken shop in the village. Rohit used to visit the shop frequently and spend time with Kishore. “The boys became good friends, and whenever Rohit bought chicken, Kishore would give him extra pieces,” Mr. Kumar said.
The next day the girl was taken into custody for questioning. The suspect, a resident of Karjun village in Valsad’s Kaprada taluka, had come to Sayali six months ago for work. He was employed as a butcher at a local chicken shop.
During interrogation, the boy confessed to the police that he had abducted Rohit on December 29, 2022 and killed him as a human sacrifice. They were helped by Ramesh Bhadia Sanwar, 53, of Athal village in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Shaileshbhai Afanbhai Kohkera, 28, who lived in Dungarifaliya and Upala Mahal in Dang, Gujarat.
Kishore told investigators that he had performed human sacrifices to attain superpowers such as flying, disappearing and punishing people. They said Mr Sanwar wanted money from a relative, whom he wanted to dominate with the power he got from the murder.
“Shailesh had reportedly joined hands to watch the process and thought that both would help him in need,” the police officer said. He claimed that Mr Sanwar and the girl’s mother were good friends and he often used to visit her. The police also learned that he allegedly practiced black magic, and it was from him that the teenager had learned the ‘basics’.
After taking the juvenile into custody, the police added Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing destruction of evidence), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) to the FIR. Subsequently, Mr. Sanwar and Mr. Kohkera were also traced and arrested on January 3, 2023.
Silvassa sub-inspector Anil Kumar T.K., who was part of the investigation team. , Photo Credit: Emmanuel Yogini
back tracking
Police have claimed that a plan was hatched a few weeks before the murder, when all three sat at a chicken shop and discussed life and problems. Since all three of them reportedly believed in black magic, their solution was reportedly human sacrifice.
Besides this, Kishore had also seen videos of human sacrifice on YouTube, and decided to perform the ‘ritual’ in the bushes behind the cremation ground on the outskirts of the village. It was on the banks of Damanganga.
Soon, the three collected items such as a black cloth, coal, and turmeric kumkum (Turmeric-Vermilion) And started looking for a person to perform the ‘ritual’. “Out of desperation, they allegedly kidnapped a youth and tried to perform tantric Method (function) on it. However, the person, who is yet to be identified, managed to escape from the clutches of the accused persons,” said an official.
It was then that the accused realized that they needed someone who would not be strong enough to resist or escape, and chose Rohit.
“Since everything was ready [for the human sacrifice]The 16-year-old boy alerted Ramesh and Shailesh without delay and took Rohit to the crematorium on the pretext of playing with him.
When the boys reached the grounds, two other conspirators were waiting for them. “Soon, they took Rohit, caught him, tied his hands and feet and performed some ‘rituals’,” the officer said. They threw the trunk into the Damanganga canal running next to the land.
“The trio dug a small pit, and placed Ramesh’s cousin’s head and a photograph, intending to overpower him to get the money. It was part of the ritual,” Mr Kumar said, adding that everything was completed within two hours of the abduction. They dispersed and acted normally.
“They were tough nuts to crack. Each one of them had a different story to tell. The truth finally came out after several days of questioning. They shared horrifying details of the murder,” said a police officer. The arrest of the three was announced on 10 January.
The cremation ground at Sayli in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, where human sacrifices were allegedly performed. , Photo Credit: Emmanuel Yogini
a family lost
The gruesome manner in which it was carried out shook Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Gujarat, and it also had another teenager at its heart.
Back in Saylie, a grandmother’s grief is unrelenting: she trembles and cries inconsolably; No one can console him. The family has only a passport size photograph of Rohit and no money to buy a photo frame. They don’t even have a picture of Rohit’s mother, who passed away a few months after his birth.
“When we don’t have money to buy groceries, how can we get his picture framed? My son barely earns ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 a month, which doesn’t even meet our daily needs, forget about medical expenses,” Ms. Jaliben said, sitting outside her mud house. The asbestos sheets and terracotta Mangalore tiles seem ready to crumble in one fell swoop.
In fact, they didn’t have the money to perform the child’s last rites, turning to the community for help. To reach the family, a visitor has to cross the Damanganga canal and walk about 500 meters down a narrow paver block path; Thorny bushes act almost as a deterrent.
Ms Jaliben said her grandson was a quiet boy who had very few friends and loved football. Despite the simple food they could afford – they only bought chicken once every few months – they never complained. “The boy was not demanding. He used to adjust with whatever was available,” she cried.
He liked to talk to older people and to know things outside his little world. “Why did my child have to suffer when we didn’t harm anyone?” She said that she was taking care of Rohit and his 12-year-old elder brother after their mother passed away.
The family is illiterate and only remembers that Rohit first went missing from the hamlet on Thursday and his body was found on Saturday. They don’t know the dates.
Rohit’s father said that the child likes school very much. “Since I never went to the school, I do not know about his marks and subjects, but I can say that he was a good student. He never missed school and always liked to spend time with the elders of the village.
Meanwhile, Prabhu Tokia, a tribal leader in the UT, said the killing of the nine-year-old girl was despicable and inhuman and a very serious crime. “We have never heard of such heinous crimes in the UT. Surprisingly, even in this age of technology, people still believe in black magic.
Mr Tokia sought a central law that specifically dealt with crimes related to witchcraft and superstition. “In Maharashtra they have a law against human sacrifice. Government of India should bring a law to prevent such incidents in future.
There is no specific section in the Indian Penal Code for the punishment of human sacrifice and most of the cases are registered under murder and kidnapping. According to a 2021 report by the National Crime Records Bureau, five deaths in India were linked to human sacrifice.
However beyond superstition and larger issues of the law, a family is bereft. Ms. Jaliben is unable to believe that her little grandson will never come home again, leading the way. “Now, our house has a tired look. I cannot believe that Rohit is no more. They killed him without any reason. He was an innocent and happy child.
Members of the victim’s family outside their house in Sayli village. , Photo Credit: Emmanuel Yogini