Bengaluru: According to the sources, the photo of 10-year-old girl, Ayesha Mohammed Noorullah was chosen from among eight photos of minors by an occultist for human sacrifice.

The dead body was found in a canal in Magadi on Friday by some passerby, the day after the girl went missing.

It has been now learnt that she was a victim of a human sacrifice conducted by prime accused Mohammed Vasil (42 yrs), his sister Rashidunnisa (36 yrs), who are the residents of Sunakal village in Magadi, a Black magic practitioner Naseem Taj (38) of Goripalya on Mysore Road and a minor boy.

It is believed that the heinous crime was committed in belief to cure Vasil’s younger brother Rafiq of paralysis, said the Magadi police while giving the details on the horror tale. It has also come to light that the girl sacrificed was their distant relative.

It has been learnt that Vasil’s brother had come to live with him after he had paralysis and could no longer run his medical shop in Tumakuru. Vasil was desperate to cure his brother and Black magic seemed as a last resort to him. Hence, following the suggestion of his sister he consulted an occultist i.e. Naseem, who was active in that area. She then advised him that if a sacrifice was to be done of a girl aged between eight to eleven years, Rafiq would be cured.

So, the search began and Ayesha’s photo was approved for the sacrifice by occultist among the eight photos sent to her.

 On Wednesday, the fourth accused i.e. the minor boy invited Ayesha to his house and from there she was kidnapped by Vasil and his sister and taken to the land where the sacrifice was to be performed.

After arriving at the spot, Ayesha’s hands and legs were tied with a rope, her neck tightly bound with cello tape, her mouth was gagged and after performing some rituals, lemons were tied to her leg.

After the rituals were completed, Vasil smothered her to death. The next day her body was thrown along roadside in a canal where it was found by some passerby on Friday.

The police had taken Vasil under custody for questioning, based on Noorullah’s statement after he told the cops that he and Vasil shared differences and the body was found near Vasil’s plot.

Police said that the accused confessed to the crime during interrogation.