‘Douches du Jour’: Two Indian Farmers Arrested for Murdering 7-Year-Old Lalita Tati in Ritual Harvest Sacrifice

A pair of subsistence farmers in India have been arrested in connection with the ritual sacrificial murder of a seven-year-old girl.

According to the Associated Press, Lalita Tati disappeared in October while walking home from a friend’s home in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state. The two poor farmers who were arrested reportedly confessed to killing the little girl in order to “appease the gods” and ensure a plentiful harvest. The farmers admitted that they cut out the victim’s liver as a sacrificial offering.

The suspects face life in prison or perhaps even the death penalty if convicted of the heinous crime.

Indian press described the alleged perpetrators as “tribals,” a reference to the indigenous peoples of Chhattisgarh state, many of whom believe in traditional healing performed by witch doctors. Human sacrifice, while quite rare, does occur and is associated with indigenous supernatural beliefs.

Child sacrifice has also been reported in Africa, with a 2010 BBC investigation finding ritual killings of children in Uganda, performed by witch doctors, to be more widespread than previously believed.

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