MAN KILLS OWL FOR SUSPECTED BLACK MAGIC RITUAL, HELD

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly killing a barn owl as part of a “black magic ritual” in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri.

Police officials said they suspect the man could have either killed the owl to attain wealth and prosperity or to woo a paramour.

According to police officers, they received a tip-off that a man in Sultanpuri has killed an owl while performing black magic. In a joint effort, a team of the animal welfare board and the police conducted a raid at the man’s house and the dead owl was recovered. The man, identified as Kanahaya (40), a resident of C Block in Sultanpuri, was arrested.

“An FIR was registered under adequate sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and under sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act at Sultanpuri police station. The matter was reported to the local police by officials from the Animal Welfare Board of India,” deputy commissioner of police (outer) Seju P Kuruvilla said.

The DCP said the man is being questioned to know why he killed the bird. However, the police said prima facie, the killing appears to be part of the ritual of sacrificing an owl to attain wealth and prosperity on the occasion of Diwali, a festival to worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. “The postmortem report will ascertain how was it killed,” Kuruvilla said.

On November 2, wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC had issued an advisory to enforcement agencies, asking them to increase efforts to curb trafficking and sacrificing of owls on Diwali for ‘tantric’ rituals.