With the help of a mechanism that cut off the heads and threw them into the fire, an Indian couple committed suicide. The police suspect it was a sacrificial ritual.
How tells CBS News, Fire plays an important role in Indian rituals. It all happened last week, between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Hemubhai Makwana, 38, and his wife Hansaben, 35, died of decapitation using a homemade guillotine on their farm in the western state of Gujarat, police said. Junior Police Inspector Indrajitsinh Jadej recounts the gruesome details of the ritual:
“The couple first prepared a fire altar before placing their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope. As soon as they released the rope, an iron blade fell on them, cutting off their heads, which rolled into the fire.”
Fire is considered sacred in Hinduism and plays an important role in several worship rituals. The couple apparently designed the device so that their severed heads would be rolled into the fiery altar, completing the sacrificial ritual.
Police found a suicide note addressed to family members and launched an investigation. The couple is survived by two children and parents. Family members of the suicide bombers told police that the couple had been praying every day in the hut for the past year.
Ritual human sacrifice has long been known in India. More than 100 such cases have been reported between 2014 and 2021, according to official figures. However, almost all known human sacrifice involves people killing others to please the gods, not themselves.
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