Bangladeshi man beheaded to redden bricks

A Bangladeshi man was beheaded by labourers who burnt his head in a kiln in the belief this would redden their bricks, police said on Sunday.

Four suspects were arrested for murdering the 26-year-old bricklayer in a remote town in northern Bangladesh on the instructions of the brick-field's owners, said Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan, a local police chief.



"They said the owners were unhappy as the brick-field was not producing reddish bricks despite enough heating. A fortune teller then suggested that the brick-field needed a human sacrifice," he said.

Police were searching for the owners and the fortune teller, he added. Red bricks are in huge demand in Bangladesh's countryside as the colour is seen as proof the bricks have been baked properly.