Child Sacrifice

[machinor]

Yeah, but you overlooked the second part of the definition quoted by you: "as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty".
The punishment was not intended to get any kind of information or to be cruel. The cruelty was not the intention, it was more kind of a "byproduct" of the punishment. This is not meant as a defense of burying someone alive but it certainly is not torture. Also it's not correct to call it ritualized killing because they were not "actively" killing them, they were letting them die.
From an ethical point of view the difference is certainly marginal, but from a juristic point of view it is important.

That's what Philipvs wanted to say.