Locals block road after finding 7-year-old girls mutilated body

The mutilated body of a seven-year-old tribal girl, missing since Saturday, was found at Mathalput in Koraput district of Odisha triggering tension in the area. [caption id=“attachment_1266039” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image[/caption] Villagers blocked the road near Mathalput, which leads to Damanjodi, for several hours after the body was found yesterday, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and adequate compensation to the family of the Class I student, who was suspected to have been killed by in a human sacrificial ritual. Police said the girl went to play with her friends after returning from school on Saturday. Her family lodged a missing person complaint at the Damanjodi police station on Sunday after failing to locate her. “The girl’s tongue was slit and her body bore several burn scars, which indicate that she was killed by some sorcerer. We demand adequate compensation to the bereaved family,” said one of the agitating villagers. “It could be a case of sorcery, but we can’t conclude anything at this stage,” SDPO (Sunabeda) V R Rao said today. PTI