11-year-old boy killed as sacrifice for school’s prosperity in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras by owner; five held

DL Public School owners and staff arrested for sacrificing student in alleged ritual, leading to child's death in Uttar Pradesh.

An 11-year-old child was killed as part of an alleged sacrificial ritual performed by the owners of his school in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras to make it more prosperous, police said on Friday, September 27, 2024.

“Besides the owner and director of the school, the principal and two teachers were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the incident,” they said.

Police said the postmortem report of the class two student revealed that he was strangled.

DL Public School owner Jasodhan Singh, who is said to believe in 'tantrik rituals', asked his son Dinesh Baghel, the director of the school, to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of the school and his family.

Principal Laxman Singh and two teachers — Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh — have also been held by police.

Police have lodged an FIR against them under section 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, against five of them and they have been sent to jail.

"The student has been identified as Kritarth (11) studying in class second of the DL Public school," Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hathras said.