Father kills daughter in ritual sacrifice

A 40-year-old man has allegedly hacked to death his nine-year-old daughter for an occult ritual at Sikandra area in the district, police said here today.
Girjesh Pal performed the "sacrificial" killing of his daughter Khushi on Saturday night at Jagura village, about 100 km from here, Kanpur (Rural) police spokesman said.
It is alleged that after killing Khushi, the accused also danced around her body.
On the night of the incident the accused was in home with Khushi. Other family members including his wife Sunita and two children - Ankit (15) and Aman (12) - had gone to relative's home at neighbouring village, police said.

When the family members returned home, Pal, who used to fix cycle punctures at his shop in the village, did not open the door of his room.
They peeped through a hole and saw Khushi's body in a pool of blood. The family members called the villagers who in turn called the police, the spokesperson said.

The police broke open the door only to find that Pal was also covered in blood and was "dancing around his daughter's body", the spokesman said.
Inside the room the police also found rituals materials allegedly used in occult-practise, he said.
According to his wife, Pal had become occultist and would talk about performing "sacrifice", the police said.

Police said they have arrested Pal and are also trying to ascertain if he was mentally disturbed.