An 11-year old girl from Mumbai’s Virar suburb died on Monday after her parents tried to cure her of a digestive disorder using black magic, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. The police arrested the girl’s parents and aunt on Tuesday.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Virar) Jayant Bajbale said the girl’s mother began to perform black magic on her at 2.30 am on Monday when she was sleeping in her house in Jivdani Prasanna Apartments in Manvelpada. An unidentified police officer said the mother resorted to black magic because her daughter had been unable to urinate or pass stools for three days.
“Chanting mantras, Meenakshi and her sister Madhuri Shinde first sprinkled turmeric and red chilli powder on the girl,” the officer said. “Her father was watching the act. While Shinde pinned the girl down, Meenakshi covered her mouth with one hand and inserted the fingers of the other hand in her rectum. After this, when the girl stopped responding, the family panicked and took her to Sanjeevani Hospital in Virar.”
However, doctors at the hospital declared the child dead on arrival. The autopsy report said the girl died of a heart attack, the officer said. The police registered a case of accidental death, after which the family cremated the child.
Bajbale said the final autopsy report, released on Monday evening, showed that the girl had injuries in her rectum. The police then registered a case of murder and hiding information against the girl’s parents and aunt and arrested them.
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