Dwarka: A 25-year-old woman was allegedly thrashed to death with a hot iron chain by an exorcist and some of her relatives during an exorcism ritual to “free her from the influence of an angry deity” in Gujarat’s Devbhumi-Dwarka district, police said on Thursday.
The police have arrested all five accused involved in the alleged incident that took place on Wednesday, inspector P B Gadhvi said.
According to the FIR, the victim Ramila Solanki and her husband Vala, who were residents of Arambhada village of Mithapur taluka, had come down to Okhamadhi village near Dwarka town to celebrate Navratri.
“When the victim suddenly started shaking and behaving as if she had been possessed, exorcist Ramesh Solanki told others to beat her in order to free her from the influence of an angry deity. He warned that Ramila would kill everyone if they did not beat her. The accused started branding her with firewood,” the official said.
The accused then allegedly took turns to thrash the victim using a hot iron chain, and eventually killed her, he said. Based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s husband, the police have arrested Ramesh Solanki and the woman’s relatives Arjun Solanki, Versi Solanki, Manu Solanki and Bhavesh Solanki on the charges of murder.