Kathmandu: Five people have been arrested and face charges of murdering a 10-year-old boy in southwest Nepal, police said on Sunday, in an incident media reports said was a suspected case of human sacrifice.
Police official Nal Prasad Upadhyaya said the decomposed body of Jivan Kohar, who had been missing for three days, was recovered from a bush on Friday in Kudiya village in Nawalparasi district, which borders India. The boy's throat had been slit.
The Kathmandu Post said the father of a sick man had confessed to the killing "to chase away the evil spirits" from his ailing son after seeking advice from a village shaman.
He lured the boy with the help of neighbours to an isolated place by offering biscuits and promising to pay him 50 US cents. He then performed a religious rite, killed the boy and dumped his body in a bush, media reports said.
All five will be charged with murder, Upadhyaya said.
More than 80% of Nepal's 28 million people are Hindus. Many frequently sacrifice animals like goats, buffaloes and roosters to appease the gods.
