In a shocking incident, a woman sacrificed her 18-month-old nephew as a part of a 'tantrik' ritual.
The incident took place at Malakpur village under Adampur police station in Amroha district.
Police have detained the woman, Saroj Devi, 32, and her husband.
The child's father, Ramesh Kumar, 28, said, "My elder brother and sister-in-law had earlier lost three children soon after their birth. When she became pregnant for the fourth time, the couple consulted a 'tantrik' for a solution so that their fourth child would survive. They killed my infant son on the advice of the tantrik."
According to police, the child's body parts were found scattered in a sugarcane field, two days after he had gone missing from home.
The child was left under the care of his aunt Saroj and grandmother Ganga Devi. After the family members could not find the missing boy, Ramesh Kumar filed a complaint with the police.
A day later, a farmer found some body parts of a child in his sugarcane field, about 400m away from the village and informed police.
During interrogation of the accused, it came to light that the child's aunt had killed the toddler by choking him to death.
Amroha Superintendent of Police Aditya Langeh said, "Prima facie, the boy was killed in a sacrificial ritual. The victim's aunt has confessed to have committed the crime. She told police that she killed the boy on the instruction of a 'tantrik'. The child was first choked to death and later his leg and other body parts were chopped off. We have recovered the child's head that had a tilak on the forehead."