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BANGALORE/YADGIR: Offering human sacrifice to propitiate the Gods may not be a novelty in North Karnataka, but the incident which took place in newly-formed Yadgir district on Thursday night can jolt the most cynical heart.

A spine-chilling attempt was made to sacrifice a 13-year-old boy by his father, to unearth a treasure purportedly hidden in his fields. And if this is not enough, here’s the shocker: the child’s mother knew about the ghastly ritual and his stepmother (father’s second wife) was party to it. However, some alert villagers who came to know about the nefarious designs of the parents and their `tantrik’, thwarted their attempt in time.

According to reports, Dawat Saab, the accused, was beaten up by the public and later arrested by the police. He decided to sacrifice his son Inamuddin on the advice of Haaji Saab, who claimed to be a tantrik from Raichur. They had taken the help of five others, who are also cooling their heels in the local police station.

The shocking incident may appear as an extract from a scary novel, but ask the residents of Rayangola village under Surapur taluk, and they will swear by each and every word of the script.

The Thursday night sequence of events took off at 7 pm. Dawat’s neighbours revealed that the 45-year-old man was deep into witchcraft and tantra -- his house was often visited by strangely-clad tantriks, sometimes in groups, around 7 pm, just when the villagers prepare to sleep.

CURIOUS VILLAGERS SAVE BOY

Out of curiosity, some villagers went near the house and peeped into a kiosk kept outside, and were taken aback. They opened the kiosk and found the boy in an unconscious state, stuffed into a gunny bag.

Later, they found a 5x9 feet pit, and as they began removing some utensils kept there, the picture got clearer. The crowd found small bundles of material used for puja and havan rituals kept in a corner, along with some chillies, lemons, red cloth, skeletons and other paraphernalia related to a sacrifice.

As word about Inamuddin being sacrificed by Dawat spread, villagers began to assemble in large numbers at the site. Around 9 pm, their tempers shot up and they ransacked Dawat’s house and brutally thrashed him. "We reached the site just in time. Had we been late by even a single minute, the house might have been torched along with the accused,’’ said SP D Roopa.

Quoting Dawat’s earlier conversation with one of them, they said the father of four children (two each from his first and second wives) was told by the local deity, Yellamma, that if he sacrificed a boy, he would be rid of all problems and even find a treasure hidden on his farm. However, locals said they did not imagine that the boy would be his son. The boy’s mother Fathima Begum was away in her native village when the ritual took place. The police have launched a manhunt for Dawat’s second wife and two others, who are at large.