GULBARGA: Eleven-year-old Sangamma of Mantigi village in Aland taluk died of burns sustained in a mysterious fire. The people of the village and the police shrugged off the death of the girl as a case of "Banamati," a form of black magic practised in this region.

However, a team of experts from Bharatiya Jnana Vijnana Samiti and Samudaya Group who visited the village and interviewed people has come to the conclusion that the girl was done to death by a close relative.

Disclosing the findings of the team to presspersons here on Thursday, samiti president K. Lingappa and Samudaya Group president Shankarayya Ghanti, who led the investigation into the death of Sangamma, said they are of the opinion that the victim was murdered by a relative who was involved in a dispute with Sangamma's family.

Combustible substance

They claimed that the accused used a pyrophoric substance, which ignites spontaneously when exposed to air, to cause the fire in which Sangamma received 75 per cent burns and died in a hospital.

Earlier it was believed that the fire that caused Sangamma's death on April 15 when she had gone to the fields, which are used as a lavatory in rural areas, was due to "Banamati."

Prof. Lingappa, who is a microbiologist, said that the inspection of the site where the victim received burns and material recovered from the house of the accused suggest that a chemical was used to induce the fire that killed Sangamma.

Prof. Lingappa said that the accused might have mixed the pyrophoric substance in the water used by the victim or smeared her clothes with it. The team also claimed to have recovered the vessels used to mix the chemicals from the house of the accused.

Sangamma's elder sister Shantabai, who had come to the village for her sister's funeral, also received minor burns in a mysterious fire two days after the funeral.

Prof. Lingappa and Mr. Ghanti said the police, who arrested the accused, released her the next day without questioning her. They wanted the police to re-arrest her and interrogate her to find out from where she procured the chemicals.

The organisations have decided to organise a show, "Pavadagala Rahasya Bayalu" (miracles exposed) in the village to create awareness among the people of the village, who still believe that Sangamma died because of a "Banamati" spell.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail