A HINDU priest has beheaded a man in a human sacrifice at an Indian temple in an apparent bid to end the coronavirus pandemic.
Sansari Ojha, 72, was said to be both drunk and high from smoking marijuana when he decapitated a man with an axe to appease a goddess.
Ojha cut off 52-year-old Saroj Kumar Pradhan’s head in the shrine of the Brahmani Devi Temple under Narasinghpur police station in Cuttack.
The brutal attack was reported to have taken place around 1am in the morning after an intoxicated argument between the pair.
Detective Ashish Kumar Singh said the priest was heavily drunk at the time and surrendered to police that day after appearing “mentally unstable”.
He said Ojha claimed he was ordered by a goddess who came to him in a dream to sacrifice a human in order to bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the globe.
The priest claimed that he saw a goddess in his dream and was asked to sacrifice a human’s life to bring an end to coronavirus.
Alok Ranjan Ray, Athagarh sub-divisional police officer, told Gulf News: “The priest claimed that he saw a goddess in his dream and was asked to sacrifice a human’s life to bring an end to coronavirus.
“Hence, to appease the goddess, he decapitated the man.”
Police say they have began an investigation and Mr Pradhan’s body has been sent for an autopsy.
The murder weapon has also been seized from the shrine.
Both men were known to be smoking marijuana before the attack.
MANGO DISPUTE
Locals from Bandhahuda told police that Ojha had been engaged in a long-standing dispute with Mr Pradhan over a mango orchard in the village.
Mr Pradhan tended the trees at the Brahmani Devi temple, which has had its access restricted due to coronavirus, and the pair shared a room together.
Social activist Satya Prakash Pati told India Today: “It’s unbelievable in 21st century that people still behave in such barbaric ways.
“We demand strong action against the guilty.”
India has recorded 4,797 coronavirus deaths and 167,442 infections, following exponential growth through May.
There are fears that the country is becoming a new epicentre for the disease in Asia, following a surprisingly low infection rate earlier on in the pandemic.
India made up nearly a quarter of Asia’s new infections last Friday, with the continent as a whole accounting for 23 per cent of the world’s daily tally – up from a figure as low as eight per cent in March and April.