Odisha shocker: Man kills 7-yr-old to cure his mental illness

, Sept 29: A mentally unstable man killed a 7-year old boy in

, believing that this would cure his mental illness. The incident happened in Jhalerpadar village of Odisha's Balangir district, which is 450 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar.

Police said that the man and a self-proclaimed tantric, on whose advise the boy was killed, have been arrested.

The boy, Dasrath Parabhoi had gone missing since September 26. The very next day, his body was found floating in a pond in the village-his hands tied and tongue slit. It is suspected that the accused, named as Banke Behera and Hrusikesh Dash, may have lured the boy on the pretext of treating him with snacks and committed the crime.

The boy's mother is a daily wage labourer and his father migrated to Andhra Pradesh to work in a brick kiln. The police zeroed in on the duo as the boy was last seen with them.

Titlagarh sub-divisional police officer Dilip Purohit said,"Behera said Dash, a tantric, advised him to kill the boy to get rid of his illness. After killing the boy, they dumped his body in the pond," .

Behera is said to have undergone treatment in several hospitals for his illness. Ten years back, he had been arrested for his involvement in a murder case, but acquitted due to lack of evidence.

OneIndia News