Bongomunda: Tension prevailed after a 12-year old girl who went missing from her home Thursday (December 24) was allegedly sacrificed by her elder brother, a sorcery practitioner, on the day of the solar eclipse at Salebarat under Sindhekela police limits in Bolangir district, police said.
The girl, identified as Janani Rana, was the daughter of Mushru Rana. Villagers who alleged Janani had been sacrificed by her brother Sobhaban gheraoed the police station demanding his arrest.
They relented after police officials assured of action. Later, the girl’s father Mushru Rana also lodged a complaint at the police station.
Meanwhile, police registered a case and detained Sobhaban in this connection.
According to the complaint, the girl was at home Thursday when her elder brother Sobhaban who was going to Khariar asked her to drop him near the river on her bicycle at 8 am. The girl left home with her brother but did not return home.
Family members searched for her at all possible locations but failed to trace her. Villagers suspected that the girl might have been sacrificed for sorcery on the day of solar eclipse as Sobhaban was jailed on similar charges a year back.
Villagers alleged that Sobhaban with the help of an accomplice, Kunaj Rana, had sacrificed his cousin Mithun Rana, 9, last year. The two were arrested by police and remanded in jail custody. However, Sobhaban was recently released from jail after getting a bail from the Orissa High court.
PNN
