Tamil Nadu, India: A 7-year-old boy lost his life over the weekend when his mother and her sisters were reportedly attempting to take him to a tantric seeking a "cure" for the fits he developed which they believed to be caused by an evil spirit.
Sunday night 30-year-old Thilagavathi took her son, 7-year-old Sabari and loaded him into an auto-rickshaw with her two sisters, 28-year-old Kavitha and 26-year-old Bagyalakshmi.
While on the way to the sorcerer however, the boy evidently began to have a fit of some sort which led the auto-rickshaw driver to let them off near a bus stop approximately midway through their trip.
According to investigators the three women were observed beating the child in an effort to get rid of the spirit.
Additional Superintendent of Police T Ashok Kumar said, "The women told the investigators that the boy was possessed by a spirit and tried to ward it off when he suffered fits."
While beating him, one of the women are believed to have stepped on his neck.
Witnesses called police to the scene. Upon arrival, they found that the boy had already died.
Thilagavathi, Kavitha and Bagyalakshmi have all been arrested and the boy's body has been taken for an autopsy.
The investigation is ongoing.