A chilling video of an apparent ‘child sacrifice’ in a small village prompted quick police investigation in Rajasthan, India amid widespread panic on social media.

The video shows several men carrying a bier, bearing a child’s seemingly severed head, in a procession led by a man holding a blood-soaked sword.

The video, shot on October 18, prompted widespread fear across parts of India due to earlier widespread rumours of a spate of child abductions throughout the country.

The rumours proved to be unfounded, but resulted in the lynching of several strangers passing through fearful villages.

Rajasthan police tracked down the ‘child sacrifice’ video to the village of Khakhla in Bilwara district, Rajasthan in northern India.

They found that the village were concluding a traditional annual festival in October with a procession, during which magic tricks were performed for entertainment.

This year the villagers had created the illusion of a beheaded boy, whose body was concealed beneath blankets laid on the bier.

The Bilwara police then publicly announced that there was no child sacrifice and shared photos of the boy during and after the procession.

A chilling video of a ‘child sacrifice’ prompted quick police investigation in Rajasthan, India.

The video shows a few men carrying a child’s head in a procession, which is led by a man holding a blood-soaked sword.

The video, shot on October 18, created widespread fear as many parts of India were swept by rumours of strangers kidnapping children a few months ago.

The rumours proved to be unfounded, but resulted in the lynching of several strangers, passing through fearful villages.

The Rajasthan police tracked down the ‘child sacrifice’ video to village Khakhla in Bilwara district.

They found that the village had a tradition of concluding an annual festival in October with a procession, during which magic tricks were performed for entertainment.

This year the villagers had created the illusion of a beheaded boy, who was carried in full under the cover of blankets.

The Bilwara police announced that there was no child sacrifice and shared photos of the boy during and after the procession.