Sam Amico
Police in India have arrested five men in connection with the 2019 slaying of a woman believed to be used as a ritual human sacrifice at the Kamakhya Temple.
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A Shanti Shaw, 64, was beheaded with a machete in what police described as an “offering” to the temple goddess. She was discovered in June 2019 but it was not until a month later that she was identified, by her son. Shaw had traveled to the temple with a Hindu “godman” and two others.
While an investigation immediately followed, no leads were found until Assam Police used technical data to link the suspects to the woman. Twelve people were linked to the murder in all, with five accused of planning the killing, Guwahati police commissioner Diganta Barah told reporters, via CBS News.
Kamakhya Temple
“During investigation, we found this was a case of human sacrifice to please Maa Kamakhya (a Hindu goddess),” Barah said.
The primary suspect, Pradeep Pathak, 52, is accused of orchestrating the killing to mark the anniversary of his brother’s death. His brother had died 11 years earlier.
“The accused apparently believed that the sacrifice would appease the soul of the deceased,” Barah said.
Along with Pathak, four other men between the ages of 50 and 62 were arrested over the past week, police said.
There have been more than 100 cases of human sacrifice in India between 2014 and 2021, per CBS.
