Kanpur, Dec 18 (IANS): Four persons, including a couple, have been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a seven-year-old girl and eating her liver and other vital organs on November 14, 2020, at the behest of an occultist in Kanpur's Ghatampur.

After the trial that lasted three years, Additional District Judge (POCSO Act) Baquar Shamim Rizvi, sentenced the accused couple Parshuram and Sunaina, their nephew Ankul and his associate Viren, to life imprisonment.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 45,000 each on Ankul and Viren and Rs 20,000 each on Parshuram and Sunaina.

Additional district government counsels Ram Rakshit Sharma, Pradeep Pandey and Ajay Kumar Tripathi said that a resident of a village in Ghatampur had lodged a complaint that her seven-year-old daughter had gone missing while playing outside her house on November 14, 2020.

The following day, her mutilated body was found in a field outside the village.

Police lodged an FIR against Parshuram, Sunaina, Ankul and Viren and launched an investigation.

Cops came to know that Parshuram and Sunaina were childless even after 19 years of their marriage and had approached an occultist who asked them to consume the liver of a girl.

Ankul and Viren sexually assaulted the girl and then killed her.

They extracted the girl’s liver and gave it to Parshuram and Sunaina.

The court announced the sentence on Saturday.