India ? The decomposing bodies of several children were found buried Friday behind a house outside New Delhi, and a domestic servant confessed to sexually abusing and killing at least seven children, officials said.

The servant, who said he lured the children with the promise of chocolate and sweets, was arrested, said R.K.S. Rathore, police chief for the area. The owner of the house was also arrested, although investigators had not yet determined if he had a direct role in the killings, Rathore said.

As police searched the property in Noida, a township east of the capital, word spread that as many as 38 children had disappeared in the area in the past few years. Parents of the missing children said they had appealed repeatedly to police but their pleas were brushed aside.

The servant was found with a missing girl’s mobile phone, and police went to the house, where they smelled decomposing corpses, Rathore said.

Police used a back-hoe and bulldozer to help dig through the yard, and reports were filtering out that the remains of dozens more children may be buried at the house. One police officer, who asked not to be identified because the investigation was ongoing, said he saw 12 skulls.