A 58-year-old woman, Sarojamma, of Vaddikandriga village of S.R. Puram mandal, 40 km from here, along with her son approached the police claiming that she had escaped from the clutches of her relatives when she about to be allegedly sacrificed at a ritual meant for “augmenting luck in treasure-hunting”.
The speech impaired woman was reportedly taken to an isolated corner of a dried up village near tank nearby on the night of May 15 by two of her close relatives on the pretext of getting her new clothes for the ongoing Jatara season. She was allegedly made to stand close to a freshly dug pit, and was reportedly given a bath with turmeric water by a couple of strangers, as her relatives stood close.
Finding a machete in the hand of a relative, the woman suspected foul play and reportedly took to her heels in the darkness.
Due to the ongoing lockdown and as the village was far away from the local police station, the incident had allegedly been hushed up by some elders. Seeing the mother in commotion and fear-stricken, her son Narasimhulu (40) made her reveal to him about the incident. She took her son to the spot from where she had reportedly fled from her “killers”.
The mother-son duo approached the S.R. Puram police on Wednesday night and lodged a complaint. They claimed that some of their relatives had joined hands with suspected treasure hunters and conspired to kill the woman to appease the “spirits guarding the hidden treasures”.
Deputy SP (Puttur) D. Murali Dhar told The Hindu that the woman and her son had filed a complaint alleging bid to sacrifice the woman. He said that the Karveti Nagaram circle inspector and his team had been asked to visit the village and nearby tank to ascertain facts.
Circle-Inspector Surendra Reddy said the case was under investigation. “As the complainant is speech impaired, her son is interpreting her gestures in his own way. We had visited the alleged spot meant for human sacrifice and will question their relatives,” he said.
