7-year-old's liver extracted after rape and murder during occult ritual in India

Four arrests have been made after a seven-year-old girl was discovered murdered and mutilated in Uttar Pradesh, India. The girl reportedly went missing on Saturday, November 14. Her body was discovered the following day. Her neighbours Ankul and Beeran were found to be responsible for the kidnapping and murder. They confessed that they acted as per the request of their relative Parshuram, who believed that feeding the child's liver to his wife would help her conceive. The duo also confessed to raping the child before her murder. The childless couple and the two men have been charged with multiple offences.

On the night of Diwali, the unnamed child was last seen playing outside her house. After a while, her family was unable to locate her. The family and other residents of the village in rural Kanpur started searching for the girl. The search ended when the child's mutilated body was discovered a kilometre away from the village, near the jungle.

Senior officers, along with forensic teams and the dog squad joined the investigation to find the perpetrators. Eventually, the police arrested Ankul and Beeran who resided in the same neighbourhood as their victim.

They told the police that Ankul's uncle had paid them to murder the child and extract her liver. Their confession revealed that Parshuram, who was also related to the victim, paid the two boys between Rs. 1k-1.5k (£10-15) to commit the crime.

Parshuram, who had been married since 1999, had not been able to have a child with his wife. The couple resorted to occult practices in hopes of conceiving. They believed that having the liver of the child while performing an occult ritual would help the woman get pregnant.

According to The Indian Express, Ankul and Beeran took the money from the couple and spent it on alcohol. They then lured the child away by promising her some snacks. They then took her to the jungle and raped her. After the assault, they strangled her and extracted the liver. Some other body parts may have also been extracted, NDTV reported.

A First Information Report (FIR) under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been filed. Police have also invoked sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the FIR following the rape confession.