Macabre! 4-yr-old boy `sacrificed' in Andhra Pradesh - The Times of India

According to The Hindu,  "Superintendent of police Ch. Srikanth said, 'This is a first-of-its-kind incident in Prakasam district.'' He added that the accused had a reputation in the village of keeping ties with practitioners of tantric rituals, and had on Tuesday night made an unsuccessful attempt to abduct an 18-month-old girl."

As noted by C Seshaiah, a member of the Indian Rationalists movement, "Such things might have happened in these parts during British times but they are uncommon in Independent India though animal sacrifices are often performed to appease villages deities." 

In a gruesome instance of human sacrifice, a villager severed the head of a four-year-old child and offered his blood to Goddess Kali seeking "divine powers". The macabre incident took place in Scheduled Castes colony in the remote Pokur village at Valetivaripalem mandal in Prakasam district on Wednesday.

Police recovered the sickle used by the accused, P Tirumala Rao (35), to kill the boy, Manu Sagar, at his residence. Enraged villagers caught hold of Rao and set him on fire. He was taken to Kandukur hospital with 40% burns. Villagers said Rao performed black magic and various pujas as he believed he would attain divine powers and wealth by human sacrifice. The accused is believed to have filled the blood in a bottle and offered it to deities.

Macabre! 4-yr-old boy `sacrificed' in Andhra Pradesh - The Times of India