An 11-year-old boy was murdered as part of a Hindu black magic sacrificial ritual by the owners of his school in India to bolster its prosperity, local police stated on Friday, adding that the student had been strangled to death.

The owner of the public school, located in Hathras, had allegedly kidnapped the boy from a hostel along with two teachers to perform what is called a "tantrik ritual" on Monday, The Hindu reported. Five men total have been detained in connection to the incident: school director Dinesh Baghel, his father Jashodhan Singh, and teachers Laxman Singh, Veerpal Singh, and Ramprakash Solanki. They reportedly told the boy's parents that Kritarth was ill and they were taking him to a hospital in Baghel's car after they had strangled him to death. The family stopped the car after becoming suspicious and saw their deceased child, immediately alerting police.

“The boy was sacrificed as part of a ritual for the school’s supposed success and glory. We are investigating if any other individuals were involved in the murder,” Hathras senior police officer Nipun Agarwal stated to the Times of India.

This was allegedly not the first time the clan had tried to kill a child for one of their black magic rituals. Agarwal stated, "Jashodhan had tried to kill a boy earlier as well, although it was not successful."
 

Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hathras released an additional statement: "The student has been identified as Kritarth (11) studying in class second of the DL Public school."

"On September 23, the student was abducted from the school's hostel by teacher Ramprakash Solanki, Dinesh Baghel, and school owner Jasodhan Singh. Jasodhan Singh believes in 'tantra' practice and asked his son to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of school and his family," he said. “They took the student to a secluded place for the sacrifice but the student woke up and began crying."

"After that, he was strangulated. Another teacher Veerpal Singh and school principal Laxman Singh were also present at the spot and were guarding the place," he added. "In the police investigation, the accused informed police that the student was killed for ‘sacrifice’ for the prosperity of school and the owner’s family."