Human Sacrifice Suspected After Three People Found Dead In Andhra Temple

In what could turn out to be most sensational case of human sacrifice in recent times, three persons have been found in a temple in in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district.

According to reports, the incident came to light on Monday morning when some residents of the Koditikita village went to the local Shiva Temple.

Outside the temple, they found the three bodies lying at three locations of the temple. They have been identified as Sivaram Reddy and his sister Kamalamma who used to look after the ancient temple which was being restored after years of neglect. The other victim has been identified as Satya Lakshmi, a resident of the same village who used to sleep at the temple.

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The deaths raised suspicion of human sacrifice after it was noticed that the assailants had sprinkled the blood of the trio all over the temple.

"We are suspecting the trio might have been offered as a human sacrifice to get suspected hidden treasure in the temple,'' a senior police official said. This is the second such case which has surfaced in Andhra in the past couple of days.

Earlier, on Thursday, a partially buried headless body was found near the Narasimha temple in Kurnool. The incident came to light after locals began experiencing a foul smell and started searching. The partially decomposed body was found protruding from the ground. The identity, gender or age of the deceased has not been identified.

While in none of the two cases human sacrifice has been established yet, reports of such underground practices are not new in the state. In most of the cases reported in the past, the motive behind the act was the hunt for 'hidden treasures' or fortunes.

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Last year the headless body of a girl was found floating in the NTR water reservoir near Kalvakuntla in Penumuru Mandal of Chittoor district. The discovery of things such as vermillion, turmeric, and a few pooja items was found in the vicinity, had led to the suspicion that it was a case of human sacrifice.

In January 2018 a man from Krishna district had escaped a human sacrifice bid on the eve of a lunar eclipse. It is believed that human sacrifices during lunar eclipses can ward off evil forces and can bring fortunes.