In a bizarre incident, a 35-year-old Delhi man has chopped off his 3-year-old daughter's ears claiming he was possessed by a supernatural force.
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The man, identified as Amrit Bahadur, has been arrested from his GTB Enclave residence.
Amrit Bahadur had allegedly tried to cut his daughter's neck before he was overpowered by the neighbours who handed him over to the police.
Bahadur works at a restaurant. He told police a ghost had directed him to make his daughter cry in pain. He claimed the ghost asked him to offer the girl's ears as a sacrifice or else he would kill her.
"He was hallucinating. He said he thrashed the girl because the ghost told him that he would kill her and take her along if he does not make her cry. He admitted that he started thrashing the girl first, but then the ghost directed him to chop off her ears. He did as directed," a senior police officer was quoted by the Hindustan Times.
When the girl started crying in pain he gagged her and asked her to bear the pain for her own good.
"He reportedly thrashed his wife and asked her to leave the house. He took his wife and five other children to the terrace and locked the door. He then returned to further torture his daughter," the police officer added.
He chopped off the girl's second ear as well. "He said the ghost was unhappy with the sacrifice so he asked for the girl's blood from her neck. When the girl tried to run away he pinned her down. Meanwhile, the girl's mother alerted the neighbours. Hearing them shout for help, the neighbours made a PCR call and a team reached Bahadur's house. Before he could slit the girl's neck, he was caught," a senior police officer said.
"The neighbours had called us and reported a brawl. We were shocked to find out that the father had mercilessly slashed his daughter's ears," said the police.
Bahadur has been "mentally disturbed" since the death of his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter two months ago, police said.
Since then he has been found hallucinating often and claims he speaks to Satan. Bahadur said he was giving pain to his daughter for her own good and to keep the ghost from taking her away, his wife told police.
The girl, who is being treated in AIIMS, is now stable. Bahadur has been arrested for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon, attempt to murder and punishment for cruelty on children.
