Hyderabad: A one-year-old girl Pooja was allegedly murdered at her house in Akkampalli in Yalal of Ranga Reddy district. The incident occurred late on Thursday.

The accused, who allegedly bore a grudge against the child’s mother for refusing his sexual advances, committed the murder, police said. Lemons, turmeric powder and kum kum were left at the spot raising suspicions of a human sacrifice. The police, which is also investigating if it was a human sacrifice, however, said it could also be to mislead the police.
The victim’s mother, Laxmi, 25, is separated from her husband. She works as labourer.

According to the police, the accused M. Narasimhulu, 40, had been stalking Ms Laxmi. He made sexual advances, but she refused him and avoided him. Narasimhulu held a grudge against her and decided to take revenge.

P. Vijay Bhaskar, SI Yalal, said that Narasimhulu, along with his associate, came to Ms Laxmi’s house and tied her up. They used some unidentified substance to make her unconscious. They then strangled the baby with a rope and fled the spot.

When Laxmi regained consciousness, she alerted the locals and cops. The villagers, who found the lemons, turmeric and kum kum at the spot, suspect it was a human sacrifice. The police has registered a case of murder and voluntarily causing hurt and is investigating. Though the complainant had not mentioned in the complaint about human sacrifice, cops are also investigating the angle.

“Though an affair is suspected to have led to the murder, we are also investigating the human sacrifice angle. When the accused is nabbed the motive will be clear,” said Mr Bhaskar.

Officials said the accused may have tried to mislead the police and locals by disguising the murder as a human sacrifice. “Human sacrifices are done only by beheading and that too with weapons, not strangulation. There were also no weapons at the spot,” police said.