16-year-old killed in ‘sacrifice’ for black magic on Amavasya day

Shilpa P | NT

Mysuru: In a horrific incident, a 16-year-old boy was allegedly killed by three of his friends at Halepura village in Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru district on Sunday in what is suspected to be an act of black magic.

The incident happened on the amavasya day of the current Dhanur maasa with Dodda Kaulande police who visited the spot, finding a doll, a hen, a pot and other things reportedly used for black magic. The deceased is Mahesh alias Manu, a native of Halepura.

Speaking to News Trail, Dodda Kaulande police said all three accused are 16 to 18 years of age and were allegedly with Mahesh near a lake to clean their car. After they cleaned the car, Mahesh wanted to take a bath and walked into the water moving about ten feet away from the shore. He accidentally slipped and drowned since he did not know swimming. The boys claimed they tried to rescue him in vain.

The incident came to light when Mahesh’s parents who worked elsewhere, returned home Sunday night and started looking for him. They met the village elders on Monday and it was at this juncture that his friends informed them that Mahesh had drowned in the lake. His body was fished out Monday afternoon.

Police said the car belonged to one of the three boys in whose house black magic is reportedly practised. So the villagers suspect that the boy might have been killed to sacrifice him.

No one claims to have seen the pooja allegedly performed by the boys. It was only on Monday when the police visited the spot that they found the articles allegedly used for the sacrificial act.

Mahesh’s parents are planning to file a complaint of murder against the three boys. One of them has completed 18 and the other two are juveniles. An FIR will be registered and the post-mortem will be done and body handed over to the family once the FIR is filed.