Tribal ’sacrificed’ in Jharkhand for rain

TNN

Ranchi/Gumla, 02 June 2015: A 60-year-old tribal man, who went missing on May 28, was allegedly sacrificed in Jharkhand’s Gumla district for better rainfall and harvest. 

 

Police found Thepa Kharia’s headless body from his house at Kharvadih in the district’s Palkot block, 130km from Ranchi, on Sunday afternoon. 

 

They could not find the severed head, which villagers believe has been buried. Police ruled out role of Maoists or criminals in the murder after preliminary investigation. 

 

Kharia’s family suspects the man was killed by Orkas, a group of oculists in the district, who sacrifice humans and bury their heads in fields before sowing season "to please the rain God". 

 

But FIR lodged by Jatru Kharia, nephew of Kharia, against unknown killers does not have any mention of Orkas, said police. 

 

"The villagers believe that Orkas have killed him. It is mysterious because Kharia did not have enemies and did not work for the police or Maoists. He was a landless farmer and chances of murder for property is also little," said Palkot police station in-charge Ajay Kumar Thakur. 

 

"In case of human sacrifice, the body is offered to a deity and rituals are followed. Orkas, however, function differently. They sever the head and bury it in fields," he added. 

 

Kharia lived alone as his son works in Goa. "He was last seen on Thursday evening. When villagers did not see him for two days, they went to his house and found his headless body," Mayawati Devi, the mukhiya of Bilingbira panchyat, where the "human sacrifice" took place, said. 

 

"People in Gumla are very superstitious. The villagers are saying the Okras have killed him. He was an innocent man and no criminal or Maoist will kill him," she added. 

 

Jharkhand has been reeling under extreme heat for the past two weeks with some parts of the state recording temperature as high as 47°C. 

 

Though weather predictions show sign of early monsoon, farmers in the state are sceptical after drought-like conditions in many districts, including Gumla, over the past two years. 

 

Terming human sacrifice as a "heinous crime", former Gumla MLA Bairagi Oraon said the practice is age-old in the district. "Such incidents happened earlier too. It is believed that human sacrifice to rain God brings good rain and better harvest. It is done before the farmers start sowing paddy. But the tradition has almost vanished now." 

 

Gumla SP Bheemsen Tuti said unless strong evidence was found to show involvement of Orkas, he would not comment. "The case is under investigation and so far no strong evidence has been found in connection with the murder," Tuti said. 

 

Human sacrifice is common especially in backward districts like Khunti, Gumla and Lohardaga. In March 2012, a man was arrested in Lohardaga for "sacrificing" his wife.