The Cab driver admits to the crime; says he had performed the bizarre ritual to secure his wife’s health

The severed head of a baby found atop a house in Uppal here a fortnight ago was part of a human sacrifice executed by the house-owner and his wife “to get relieved of evil spirits”.

Rachakonda police of Hyderabad on Thursday arrested the house owner K. Rajashekhar, 40, and his wife K. Srilatha, 30, on charge of abducting and killing the infant. The husband and the wife were prime suspects in the ‘sensational human sacrifice’ case when the severed head was found on the terrace of their house on February 1, preceding the recent blue moon total lunar eclipse.

“They feigned innocence, but scientific analysis of video clips and mobile calls coupled with circumstantial evidence confirmed that it was a case of human sacrifice,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said at a press conference. A cab driver, Rajashekhar believed the presence of evil spirits in their house of Chilukanagar was the reason behind his wife’s failing health.

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He approached doctors, tantriks and astrologers for the past four years to treat his wife. During their visit to the recently held Sammakka Saralamma Jatara, they happened to meet a ‘Koya Dora’ (tribal man), who reportedly suggested to Rajashekhar that ‘human sacrifice’ was the only solution to secure his wife’s health.

On return, the cab driver met three persons practising black magic. Despite some rituals by them, there was no change in his wife’s health condition. “Finally, the couple decided to offer human sacrifice and Rajashekhar began looking out for a baby to be sacrificed on the night of total lunar eclipse as he believed it was auspicious time”. He happened to see a baby lying alone on the roadside in Bhoiguda on January 31. Around midnight, he drove in his car to that spot and abducted the baby girl apparently left unattended by her parents.

He headed towards Pratap Singaram village along Musi river. “Around 2 a.m., he beheaded the baby with a knife and threw the torso into the stream,” the Commissioner said. Later, Rajashekhar brought the severed head home around 3 a.m. carrying it in a polythene bag. The couple performed ‘tantrik’ ritual by placing the baby’s head on an altar in their living room and then placed it on the terrace in the south-west corner. Later in the morning, his mother-in-law saw the severed head and raised a hue and cry.

The couple pretended to be innocent during the subsequent investigation, but eventually admitted to their offence.