Residents of Wassa Nkyirifi, a farming community in the Western Region, woke up on Friday morning to the horror of a suspected murder of a seven-year-old girl by her uncle.

After allegedly killing and burying the body in a nearby bush, the suspect, identified only as Augustine, a 37-year-old farmer reported to the police that his niece had gone missing.

The suspect then went further to make public announcements on the radio asking for help to locate his niece.

The police in the Wassa Amenfi East Municipal area, however, suspected foul play because of Augustine’s responses to their questions and how he was desperately concerned about the missing young girl.

Augustine’s body language, his responses and his eventual exhibition that he was terrified according to a police source, prompted an intense interrogation during which he burst into tears.

According to the police source, he then confessed that he had killed the niece for money ritual so he could evade poverty.

The seven-year-old victim has been identified as Sandy Manu.

The suspect is said to have told the police that, he complained about poverty to one elderly man in the Wassa Nkyirifi community. The elderly man advised him to use one of his many nieces for money rituals.

Upon meditation, he allegedly went to see a spiritualist the next day to help him go through the process of money rituals.

The suspect said the spiritualist then told him to bring a human head. From there, he went in for Sandy and murdered her.

After killing and beheading her, he reportedly buried the headless body and concealed the head in the process.

The suspect then led the police to the nearby bush where the headless body was buried and the body was exhumed.

The head was also retrieved from another location. The body has since been deposited at the morgue and the suspect is currently in police custody.

Meanwhile, a video from the scene where the body was exhumed has been shared on social media by some of the community members.