In a horrific incident at Chhinnamastika Temple in Rajrappa on Tuesday morning, a man slit his head with a ‘katari’ (rapier) apparently to sacrifice himself before Maa Kali to appease the Goddess. The man, Sanjay Nutt (35), was identified as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, hailing from Buxar in Bihar and was currently posted in Odisha.
“According to the eyewitnesses, the man looked to have come for offering himself as sacrifice before the Goddess. He was from Balihar village in Buxar and was posted in 45 Battalion of CRPF somewhere in Odisha,” said Officer in charge of Rajrappa Police Station Atin Kumar. Nutt, who appears to be a devotee of Maa Kali, slit his throat with a rapier just at the door of temple’s ‘Garbha Griha’ after offering prayers at around 6:20 am. He lost his life in minutes as blood kept on oozing out of his body, he added.
“After spending 20 days of leave at home, he left home happily on Sunday to join his duty but I have no idea how he reached Rajrappa,” said his wife Sharda Devi. She, however, admitted that he used to spend quite some time worshipping Maa Kali but never thought he would do such a thing.
“Why a normal person, having four small children, will do such a heinous activity especially when he has left home so happily,” said the deceased person’s wife. Nutt has two sons and two daughters who live with the family at his village.
Eyewitnesses revealed that Nutt was among the handful of early devotees who entered the temple to offer ‘puja’ to the goddess after the temple was opened for “darshan” around 6 am following the customary rituals.
“Nutt finished his puja and stood at a floor, which gives a clear sight of the deity inside the Garbha Griha and slit his throat with a rapier and lost his breath within minutes after thrashing out for quite some time,” said General Secretary of Rajrappa Temple Samity Subhashish Panda.
later after the incident, the police was called which took the body away for postmortem while the temple was closed for ‘shuddhikaran’ for about two and a half hours.
According to police, the man was carrying only a piece of paper inside the wrap on his waist having his name, residential address and telephone numbers of his family members on it.
“Nutt’s father is also a police constable in the State Police and is posted at Kaimoor Police Station in Buxar. The family members have been informed and they are on their way to Ramgarh,” said the OC of Rajrappa Police Station.
located 68 kilometers away from State capital Ranchi on the confluence of Damodar and Bhairavi Rivers, the Rajrappa temple is dedicated to headless deity of Goddess Chinnamastika who holds a scimitar in one hand and her severed head in the other. The temple is referred as a 'Shakti Peeth' in ancient Hindu scriptures.
With inputs from Manoj Sinha at Ramgarh