The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Police said that the incident took place at the district's Kushalipara village, where Jadav Saharia and his family members, probably driven by some kind of superstition, attempted to sacrifice the toddler.

Some local residents first got an inkling of the human sacrifice attempt when they heard chanting of hymns from the house of Saharias and saw most of the family members taking part in the religious ceremony in a nude condition.

"We wanted to intervene and stop them from doing what they were doing. But they tried to attack us with some weapons, following which we informed the police. However, they refused the police entry into their house and attacked them as well," said a local resident, adding that finally the police had to shot Saharia and his son on their legs to disarm them and rescue the child.

The bizarre incident continued for over four hours until police fired and saved the minor girl, police said.

"It seems the entire family is mentally disturbed. Who will strip in the open in a residential area. Saharia's daughter had committed suicide earlier and perhaps, the members of the family developed a psychiatric problem after that incident," Udalguri District Magistrate, Dilip Kumar Das said adding that police have registered a case and investigation is on.

He said that there were a total of eight persons, including the minor girl's parents, who were relatives of the Saharias, at the ceremony.

Indo-Asian News Service