The couple, identified as Srikrishna and Ramdevi, were told by a “tantrik” (exorcist)that they would become rich if they sacrificed their daughter, according to police sources here.



Acting on the advice of a “tantrik”, a “havana kund”(a pit in which the fire is lit and yajna is performed), was prepared in the courtyard of the couple for the rituals late on Monday night.



The parents then put their daughter Kanni into the pit amid chanting of “mantra” and lit the fire. The girl, who was also mercillessely beaten, was half buried in the pit.



The parents had stuffed a piece of cloth in the mouth of the little girl so that her cries could not be heard by any one in the village, sources said.



The badly burnt body of the girl was later buried on the same spot by digging a deep pit, sources said. The grandmother of the girl was also present during the rituals, sources said.



The ghastly incident came to light on Tuesday when neighbours found vermillion, flowers, incense sticks and other items used in the rituals and suspected that some “exorcism rituals” might have been performed there.



As the crowds of villagers swelled before Srikrishna’s house, the couple, sensing trouble, and others fled from there through the back door.



The villagers informed the police, which dug the area and brought out the badly burnt body of Kanni. “The body had injury marks on the head and neck, which shows that she must have been beaten for offering resistance,” according to the police.



A case had been registered by the police and a massive manhunt had been launched to nab the culprits, who have been absconding.



Barely a couple of days back a nine- year-old girl was buried alive by her own uncle in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district to please the goddess so that he could become rich.