Woman Forced to Drink Alcohol and Smoke Beedi During Black Magic Ritual; Three Arrested

Kottayam: A young woman in Kottayam district, Kerala, was allegedly forced to smoke beedi and drink alcohol while being subjected to hours-long physical and mental torture in the name of black magic, police said on Saturday.

According to police, the woman’s partner and his family had brought a sorcerer to their home last week, claiming the ritual was intended “to evict a ghost from the woman’s body.” During the ordeal, she was reportedly subjected to prolonged physical and psychological abuse. As the mental condition of the woman deteriorated, her father lodged a complaint, following which the police registered a case and launched an investigation.

Police said the sorcerer Shivadas (54), the woman's partner Akhil Das (26) and his father Das (54) were arrested in this regard on Friday. The woman alleged that her partner’s mother had brought the sorcerer and arranged the black magic, claiming that the woman’s body was possessed by the evil spirits of her deceased relatives.

“The black magic started by 11.00 am and lasted till night. I fell unconscious at the end,” the woman told the media on Saturday. She further alleged that during the ritual she was given alcohol, forced to smoke beedi, made to consume “sacred ash,” and subjected to other forms of physical torture, including burn injuries.

The sorcerer, the prime accused in the case, who had gone into hiding after switching off his phone following the incident, was arrested from the Muthoor area in Thiruvalla, police said. The partner's mother, a co-accused in the case, is currently absconding, they added. The arrested were remanded by a court later, police added.