A 14-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man under the pretext of performing exorcism in Nizamabad district in Telangana, police said on Tuesday. As the news surfaced, a group of enraged women activists barged into the office of the man, who also reportedly runs a local newspaper, and thrashed him.
A video of the activists attacking the man with footwear and dragging him out of his office premises before police intervened and took him away went viral on social media. Some men also joined them in thrashing him.
The45-year old man, who allegedly practised sorcery and been claiming to offer "traditional cure" for ailments, sexually assaulted the girl at his office on a few occasions and threatened that he will kill her parents if she informed anyone, a police official said. The girl's family had taken her to the man in July for treatment of her health issues, including body pain. He gave some medicines and told the girl's mother to bring her every week for curing her ailments.
The sexual assault came to light on October 8 when the mother took the girl to a hospital after she complained of stomach ache and a doctor found infection in her genitals. Later, she revealed the sexual assault by the man.
During preliminary investigation, it emerged the accused had been claiming to offer cure for various ailments through exorcism besides traditional medicines claiming that he learnt it from his family elders, the police official said. Following a complaint, the police registered a case on charge of cheating, rape under relevant IPC sections against the man, who is being questioned.
The girl has been shifted to a hospital and a medical examination was being done to ascertain if she was pregnant, the official added.
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