Bhubaneswar, Aug 4 (IANS): A court in Odisha on Tuesday awarded the death sentence to a self-proclaimed godman for sacrificing a minor boy to a deity.

The godman Pitamber Gaiper made the human sacrifice on February 11, 2010.

The district and sessions court in the state's Jajpur district pronounced the death sentence on Gaipei after examining 22 witnesses and studying their depositions.

"The court awarded death sentence to the godman describing the crime as 'rarest of rare'," said public prosecutor Kishore Kar.

He said the godman was arrested on February 18, 2010 after he was found offering the child's blood to women and telling them that drinking it would make them immortal.

Srikant Bag, an eight-year-old boy of Icchapur village in Jajpur district, was murdered on February 11, 2010 by the godman, who offered the boy as a sacrifice to a goddess, said Kar.

He said Pitamber took away the minor, beheaded him and buried his head near the deity's statue.

Police nabbed Gaipei after investigating the matter following a complaint by the boy's family.