Death penalty stayed in sacrifice case

The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a couple, sentenced to death in a case of sacrificing a two-year-old boy.

A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra admitted the appeal filed by the condemned prisoners, Ishwari Lal Yadav and his wife Kiran Bai, whose death penalty was confirmed by the Chhattisgarh High Court in the human sacrifice case.

“Let the lower court records be called for. There shall be stay of the execution of the death sentence. Let the matter be listed before the appropriate bench in the week commencing November 28,” the Bench, also comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar, said.

The case dates back to November 23, 2010 when Chirag, the two-year-old son of Poshan Singh Rajput, went missing.

It was alleged that the two main accused, Yadav and his wife, used to practise black magic. Kiran Bai had allegedly asked her husband to get a child for sacrifice and the boy was kidnapped and killed in a gruesome manner.