Amardeep Sada

Background

Amardeep Sada was described as “India’s youngest serial killer” after he was charged with the murder of three children, including his sister, who were all less than one year old.

He was the son of an impoverished Indian couple. Police said he appeared to be a psychiatric case and was being evaluated by professionals. Police also said that, when questioned, Sada “just smiled a lot and asked for biscuits.”

The offence

Sada was accused of the murder of a six-month-old girl, Kushboo, whom he was alleged to have abducted last Tuesday. Kushboo’s mother, Chunchun Devi, said she had left her daughter to sleep at her village primary school while she attended to household chores and returned to find she had disappeared.

Villagers confronted Sada and, in police-alleged circumstances, he confessed to the murder. The confession led them to the place where he had attempted to conceal the body in a shallow grave in a nearby field.

Police also said that after his arrest Sada confessed to the murder of:

• his eight-month-old sister three months earlier, and
• his six-month-old cousin, the daughter of a maternal uncle, almost a year earlier.

An uncle of Sada’s told local media that the earlier two killings had been known to the family and some villagers, but had not been reported since it was considered a “family matter”.

Inspector Shatrudhan Kumar of Bihar police said that all the killings had been carried out in identical manner, stating:

“He said he took the children to the fields and hit them with a stone and killed them. He has been charged with murder”

A further account reported that Kushboo had been sleeping alone in the village primary school while her mother, Chunchun Devi, was busy with chores at her house nearby. It said Sada strangled the infant and hit her with a brick before attempting to bury the body in the nearby field. It also said Sada later led the villagers to the spot and told them the “gory tale of how he executed the killing.”

Another report stated that an eight-year-old boy, Amardeep Sada, killed a year-old girl Khushi by “smashing her face with a brick,” and was said to have also killed his one-year-old cousin brother and his six-month-old sister in a similar fashion previously. That report also stated there was “no official confirmation” of the first two killings.

A police station officer in-charge confirmed that Sada killed the baby while playing, and said the boy allegedly told police:

“Khapda se mar mar ke suta deliyay (I killed by beating her with a brick).”

That report added details that police sources said Sada took the girl from her mother’s lap and went to a nearby field, laid the baby on grass, and started smashing her face repeatedly. It stated that because there was no one around, her cries could not be heard, and that when she died Sada covered the body with grass and leaves and came back to his house. It said relatives found the baby dead late in the evening, after which residents summoned the police and handed the boy over.

Investigation and arrest

Superintendent Amit Lodha, from Begusarai, said the boy appeared to be a psychiatric case and was being evaluated by professionals. Begusarai was described as 90 miles east of Patna, the capital of Bihar.

Begusarai superintendent of police Amit Lodha said:

“After completing the preliminary formalities we have handed the matter to the court. We will hear from the court, who will be responsible for providing medical assistance to the accused.”

Lodha also said:

“We will also request the court to provide a separate ward for this boy so that he does not harm other juvenile delinquents staying at Begusarai remand home.”

A report also stated that the police arrested Sada and sent him to a Begusarai remand home.

It was also stated that police, as yet, had “no confirmation of the two previous killings” that villagers accused him of.

Trial

No trial proceedings were described. The matter was handed to the court after preliminary formalities.

Sentencing

No sentencing was described.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Sada remained charged with murder in connection with the killings of three children.

Aftermath

Villagers and residents described being “extra careful” around Sada, especially after he had “killed his sister and cousin”. One report said that the parents fled the village before the police came.

Patna-based psychoanalyst Shamshad Hussain said Sada appeared to be a sadist who derived pleasure from inflicting injuries. Another former professor of psychology in Patna University said the boy did not have a sense of right or wrong.

Medical experts were described as calling his need a “conduct disorder,” a mental state in which a patient feels a sense of gratification after inflicting injuries on others. A psychotherapist with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nand Kumar, said:

“Such cases need immediate medical intervention. Doctors need to address the chemical imbalance in patients’ brains.”

Kumar added:

Kumar further said:

“Such aggression may be hereditary and may be caused because of great chemical upheavals in the brain.”

The report said that Kumar described the intensity of Sada’s action as a “dangerous” symptom and that “Such aggression may be hereditary and may be caused because of great chemical upheavals in the brain."