Indian man beheaded baby, licks up blood

A MAN has confessed to beheading a newbo and licking the blood dripping from its severed head as people watched horrified.

The accused, Lakkhikanto Karmakar alias Shyama, a tantrik from Bankura village in India, carried out the attack in full view at a local graveyard where he had built a makeshift temple.

Witnesses reported seeing a baby's head hanging from a tree and Karmakar licking the blood that was trickling down the severed neck.

A number of people reportedly started beating him up and police took awhile to rescue him from a near lynching.

Police are yet to work out a motive for the human sacrifice but have found the dagger used and pictures of the baby's head hanging from a rope. The torso is still missing and the parents haven't been located.

Police say Karmakar has a long rap sheet and along with his mother, Suli, used to target unwed girls looking to abort their foetuses.

\"We have seized the dagger but the post-mortem report is awaited,\" Bankura police officer Pranav Kumar said. \"There is a possibility that Karmakar didn't murder the child but picked up its body from somewhere near the crematorium. People who claim to be tantriks perform such gruesome rituals to fool villagers into believing in their powers.

\"Our records say Karmakar was arrested several times for serious offences like robbery and extortion. He seems to have tued into a tantrik a few months ago,\" he said.