Occultist drowned 4-year-old over goat sacrifice, police say

Rajkot: A four-year-old boy was allegedly drowned in a water tank by a woman occultist in Dhrangadhra town of Surendranagar district — just 123km from Ahmedabad — after his father failed to perform an animal sacrifice promised to her, police said.The accused, Rehana Mayak, a neighbour of the victim's family, was arrested based on a complaint filed by the child's father, Farooq alias Lalo Echwadia (37), at Dhrangadhra City police station on Friday. Mayak was produced before a court on Monday and remanded in police custody for two days. Police registered the case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 3(3) of the Gujarat Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2024. According to the complaint, Farooq, who runs a painting business and lives in the Police Quarters area, said he and his wife, who had four daughters, approached Mayak around five years ago seeking her help for the birth of a son. Mayak allegedly promised them a son on the condition that they would sacrifice a goat to a deity after the child's birth. The couple agreed. Their son, Kartik Echwadia, was born on Feb 1, 2022. Farooq stated that on March 28, Mayak visited their house and demanded that the goat sacrifice be performed, warning that failure to do so before Chaitra Purnima would harm the child. He told her he would carry out the sacrifice only if he dreamed of the deity asking for it. Mayak allegedly left, saying the deity was displeased and that the family would be responsible if anything happened to Kartik. On April 2, Farooq returned home for lunch to find his wife distraught as Kartik had gone out to play and had not returned. After searching the area, the boy was found in the water tank at Mayak's house. He was rushed to a private hospital but was declared dead. Despite suspecting foul play due to Mayak's earlier threats and alleged occult practices, the family did not immediately approach police and went ahead with the child's burial. After relatives intervened, Farooq lodged a complaint on Friday. Police exhumed Kartik's body the same day and conducted a postmortem at the Dhrangadhra govt hospital. The investigation is ongoing, with police seeking to establish the exact circumstances of the child's death during Mayak's custodial interrogation.
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