A man in Nepal was found guilty of abducting and murdering a 10-year-old boy after a holy man told him that a human sacrifice to the gods would help save his ailing son.

During police interrogation, 35-year-old Kodai Harijan confessed he had used a sickle to slit his victim’s throat with hopes that his actions would chase away evil spirits, which had taken over his 18-year-old son Bijaya. The victim’s body was found three days after he was killed on the outskirts of Harijan’s village, Kudiya, where police officials could barely tell if Jivan Kohar’s head was still attached to the rest of him.

Harijan decided to carry out the gruesome act after a local shaman, who is believed to have divine powers, told him his son’s body had been possessed by spirits that were making him ill.

“When inquired, the spirit that had taken over Bijaya said it needed ‘human meat’ to leave. So we made a plan to sacrifice Jivan,” said Harijan.

Part of their plan was to lure Kohar away from his friends, with whom he often played in the village, by tempting him with a packet of biscuits and Rs 50. After being abducted, the child was taken to a temple on the outskirts of the village, where the holy man, Ganga Harijan, carried out a religious ritual that would apparently benefit Bijaya. Afterwards, a group of men held him to the floor while Harijan slit Kohar’s throat. Scared for his own safety, Harijan attempted to flee to India, where he was eventually caught, after his wife told the police about what her husband had done.

Reportedly, nine other men have also been arrested, including some of Harijan’s relatives as well as the shaman who had advised Harijan to carry out the abduction and killing of the young boy.

Kudiya is home to some of the most uneducated and poor people in Nepal. Many of the villagers are often ostracized as untouchables and human sacrifices are not so rare among their clan.

Photo Credits: ARKO Asia