The Supreme Court set aside a lower court order sentencing...

The Supreme Court set aside a lower court order sentencing to death four people for sacrificing three children at Newasa in 1992. Damu Gopinath, Kotkar alias Guruji, Mukinda Thorat and Balu Joshi killed the children and used their blood to propitiate gods to help them find a hidden treasure in Maharashtra. The Supreme Court has ruled that since they were "gullible to superstitious thinking" and their actions were due to "utter ignorance", the extreme penalty could not be conferred on them.