Motilal, 52, introduced himself as a tantrik or occultist to the young woman’s family, offered to perform an exorcism on her to drive away evil spirits and raped her. 

Bhadohi, UP: In a shocking incident fueled by blind superstition, an 18-year-old young woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi was allegedly raped by a self-proclaimed occultist on the pretext of driving away evil spirits from her body.

According to the police, the 52-year-old accused, identified as Motilal, introduced himself as a tantrik or occultist to the young woman’s family, offered to perform an exorcism on her to drive away evil spirits and raped her.

“A family had come here from Mirzapur a few days ago to visit Sitamarhi where one Motilal (52) introduced himself as an occultist and told the woman’s parents that their daughter was possessed by a ghost,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Meenakshi Katyayan told news agency PTI.

Giving details, the senior officer said that Motital, who was arrested by the police on Saturday afternoon, conned the family into believing that their daughter was possessed by a ghost or evil spirit and he must perform an exorcism to drive the malicious entity away from her body.

The accused also charged the family Rs 4,000 for the ritual, the SP said.

The teenager’s father took her to Motilal on Thursday evening and the accused took her on a bike to a room behind a temple in Darvasi village where he allegedly raped her, the SP said.

Motilal brought the woman out after three hours and asked her to visit him again the next day and also threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident, he said.

However, the victim narrated the incident to her family, after which her father lodged a complaint against the accused, Katyayan added.

Based on the complaint, a case under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections, the SP said.

The medical examination of the woman confirmed that she was raped and following her written statement in the court, the accused Motilal was arrested here on Saturday afternoon, he added.

(With PTI inputs)