Rajkot couple sacrifices lives as part of ritual, say police
The couple had sent their son and daughter to the woman’s parents’ home the previous day, police said. When the children returned, they found the parents dead. Police have also recovered a purported suicide note stating about the woman suffering from some illness.

A couple allegedly sacrificed their lives as part of a ritual in Vinchhiya village of Rajkot district Saturday night, police said Sunday.
According to Vinchhiya police, Hemu Makwana (38) and his wife Hansa Makwana (35) were found dead on their agricultural field in Vinchhiya village Sunday morning. While the woman’s partially-burnt head was found in a yagna kund (fire altar) inside a hut on the farm, the man’s head was found on the edge of the fire area. The torsos of the couple were found behind a heavy blade.
ID Jadeja, sub-inspector of Vinchhiya police station, said that with the help of a rope, the couple lifted the heavy blade along a guiding path, placed their heads near the yagna kund and then let loose the lifted blade. The blade slid down with force, chopping off their heads, police said, adding the couple had also installed a shivlinga on the edge of the yagna kund.
The couple had sent their son and daughter to the woman’s parents’ home the previous day, police said. When the children returned, they found the parents dead. Police have also recovered a purported suicide note stating about the woman suffering from some illness.
The bodies were shifted for forensic postmortem after a case of accidental deaths was registered.