NAWALPARASI: In a bizarre incident, it has been revealed that a 10-year-old child was mercilessly hacked to death as human sacrifice to cure an 18-year-old boy, who suffered from health problems, in a village in Nawalparasi district recently.

Police arrested five persons, including a shaman, for their alleged involvement in the murder of the child.

Jeevan Kohar from Kudiya-4 of the district was missing since last Tuesday. It came to light on Saturday morning that the child was killed on the same day when police arrested five neighbours on charge of his murder.

Kodai Harijan (35), Ganga Harijan (40), Rudal Harijan (50), Surya Bhan Harijan and Bijay Harijan (18) were arrested on charge of the murder. The suspects confessed the crime, at a press conference today.

One of the suspects, Kodai, reportedly told police that his son Bijay suffered some health problem on Tuesday and demanded that he had to be "pacified with human flesh."

The teen Bijay had said so under the "spell of a ghost that was driving him then," Kodai claimed.

Then, Kodai decided to offer the neighbourhood child to the god for the health of his son. He had lured the child offering him a packet of biscuits and a banknote of Rs 50, according to police.

"Then I slaughtered him," the man said at the press conference, confessing to the cold-blooded murder.

At the press conference, the District Police Office also paraded the suspects.

"I bought some incense sticks and camphor and also called the shaman (Ganga) and two other friends - Rudal and Suryabhan," Kodai said at the press conference, "I found Jeevan playing nearby and took him to my house showing the banknote."

"Rudal held his hands and head, Suryabhan caught his feet," the man narrated the incident, "Then I brought a gadasa – a hatchet – and cut his throat."

The main suspect, however, said that he feels guilty of the incident. "We had not planned to offer that very boy," he said, "But, we found only him around that time."

According to police, Kodai had even assured parents of the victim that he would help them find the child, who was believed to be missing then.

He even went to India in the pretext of searching the child, police added.

The victim was a third grader at a local school.

Meanwhile, locals destroyed the house of Kodai after the incident came to their knowledge.

SP Nal Prasad Upadhyaya said the arrestees will face murder charges in the court.