Kul Dabhi (Sunderbani), Feb 14
In a spine-chilling incident, a father allegedly sacrificed his three-year-old son to propitiate ‘Baba Bhairav Nath’ at his residence at Kul Dabhi village in Sunderbani tehsil of border district Rajouri.

The father, who happens to be a ‘tantrik’, then buried the body of his son, Shibham Sharma, in front of a temple (devsthan) constructed inside the house. Shibham was the youngest among the tantrik’s two daughters and three sons.

The boy was allegedly murdered on Saturday night and buried around midnight. The incident surfaced after some villagers who came to know about Raju Baba’s tricks raised an alarm and told police about it. Following the shocking incident, the police today exhumed the boy’s body for autopsy.

The police said the tantrik, identified as Raj Kumar alias Raju Baba (40) could have ‘sacrificed’ his boy purportedly to become rich. “The tantrik, who claims to be a follower of ‘Baba Bhairav Nath’, might have been told by someone that if he sacrificed his son, he would be rid of all problems and even become rich in no time,” the police said.

An inconsolable Toshi Devi (35), Shibham’s mother, however said her son died a natural death and her husband was innocent.

“On Saturday evening, we returned from Gaddi Garh area on the outskirts of Jammu city and Shibham complained of pain in the abdomen. He had vomited before his death. How can a father kill his son? This is a concocted story,” she said.

Many people from Sunderbani town and adjoining villages today assembled near the house and peeped into the residence to witness the exhumation.

Eyewitnesses said bundles of material used for ‘puja’ and ‘havan’ rituals, some lemons, red cloth and other paraphernalia related to a sacrifice were found.