POLICE in India rescued several children after a female shaman was accused of using youngsters in ritual sacrifices, Malaysia Nanban reported.
The woman named Shobana, 52, ran an ashram in the Palakkad district in Kerala.
She claimed to be an ascetic and was known to conduct special prayers involving children from the ashram.
Locals, who were suspicious of her activities, had reported her to the police several times in the past.
However, the reports did not lead to any clear outcome.
Eventually, the police began taking the claims more seriously after an incident in a neighbouring city which saw two people being killed in a ritual sacrifice conducted by a couple who wanted to make themselves rich.
Shobana’s ashram was raided by the police who took away the children and detained the woman.
Local residents immediately looted the ashram and thrashed the place.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
