PUDUKKOTTAI: Over a week after a missing four-year-old girl was found with her throat slit at Kurumbapatti, near Iluppur, police on Sunday arrested a woman for allegedly killing the child in a human sacrifice ritual. The Pudukkottai police said Chinnapillai (35) had confessed to killing V Shalini, daughter of Vellasamy and Murugayi, with a sharp weapon on October 25 as she believed it would give her occult powers.

“Chinnapillai was a neighbour of the child. So it was easy for her to lure the child away. After killing her, the woman left the body and the weapon at the crime spot,” said a police official. It was a cattle grazer who found Shalini’s body and informed police. 

The accused was presented before a judge in Thirumayam on Monday , who remanded her in custody till November 16. A fortune teller, the woman is said to perform animal sacrifices and occult rituals.