Couple sacrificed in black magic ritual

In a macabre incident, two persons were killed in an apparent sacrifice as part of a black-magic ritual under Nagari Police station limits in Chittoor District during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

According to Inspector Surender Reddy, the two victims were identified as Swamynadhan (59) and his second wife Parimal Gandhi. The bodies were discovered on the banks of a lake near the Nagari Railway station in Chittoor on Thursday with their throats slit. Police believe that the couple were slaughtered as part of a sacrificial ritual.

The presence of lemons, turmeric powder along with kumkum powder has given credence to the suspicion.

The throats of the victims were slit with a sharp weapon and the position of the bodies too pointed to the sacrifice aspect. The intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday was also a full moon night.

A case has been registered under section 302 against unidentified persons and shifted the victims to the nearest hospital for autopsies. CLUES teams and the dog squad and have also been pressed into service to identify the killers.