PONDA
In a shocking incident, a 5-year-old girl who had gone missing in Usgao on Wednesday evening is alleged to have been murdered by a couple from Maharashtra and buried barely a few metres from the girl’s house.
The accused couple, Babasaheb Alat (52) and his wife Pooja (40), who are natives of Miraj-Maharashtra and were living in a rented house at Usgao, are alleged to have killed the child as part of a human sacrifice to enable the childless couple to conceive a child.
They have been detained in this connection and a police team along with a forensic team later retrieved the body of the girl on Thursday night.
According to the Ponda DySP Shivram Vaingankar, the incident occurred on Wednesday, when the mother complained to Ponda police that her elder daughter aged 5 years had gone missing from their home.
Ponda police registered an offence of kidnapping and began inquiries with neighbours.
When a police team reached the site, the accused couple pretended to help the police to find out the whereabouts of the missing girl.
On Thursday morning, police went to the spot again for an inquiry, when they found the couple’s behaviour to be suspicious and began questioning them. The couple then admitted having killed the girl as part of a human sacrifice.
According to the police, the couple was married for a number of years, but did not bear a child.
Believing in some black magic, the couple is believed to have sacrificed the child in the hope that the wife would conceive.
The mother of the child is a Goan and was married in Ratnagiri. She was living at her maternal home, as there were constant fights between her and her husband. The grandmother was taking care of the two minor girls.
The murder of the minor girl has shocked the village and Usgao-Ganje Sarpanch Ramnath Dangui appealed to people not to be misled by witchcraft and black magic.
