Grandma’s beating leaves 6-year-old dead in Vellore; kin suspect human sacrifice
Left behind by sparring parents, boy allegedly punished frequently with beatings for naughtiness; one such thrashing turns fatal but relatives suspect worse
The unnatural death of a six-year-old boy at a village in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district has aroused suspicions of witchcraft and ritual sacrifice, though the police are yet to find any evidence of that.
The boy was reportedly found dead with multiple injuries, both new and old, at his grandmother’s house in Melpatti village on Sunday (June 14) night. Since it happened to be the day of a new moon (amavasya), locals and relatives claimed it could be a case of human sacrifice. The accused is the boy’s paternal grandmother, who, locals claim, practises witchcraft.
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The boy, identified as Mugilan R, used to live with his grandparents because his parents, Rajesh and Asha, had been separated for years. However, they reportedly settled their marital discord a couple of months ago and are currently living and working together again, at a factory in Tiruppur.
A fatal beating
However, since the boy was attending school in Melpatti, he stayed back with his grandmother, Vijaya, who was allegedly known to assault the child frequently. The boy was reportedly quite impish and Vijaya allegedly used to assault him as punishment.
Reports say that she returned home from a temple on Sunday evening to find Mugilan climbing a wall and thrashed him with a coconut frond. The beating was so severe that the little boy collapsed and later died. Reports quoted police sources as saying that several injuries were found on the little body, both old and new.
The Melpatti police have registered a case of suspicious death and sent the body for autopsy. The investigation so far has reportedly found no trace of ritual sacrifice.