30 arrested for practicing exorcism in Prayagraj

Prayagraj, June 28 (IANS) Thirty people have been arrested in Prayagraj for allegedly performing exorcism on women.The accused were arrested on Sunday in Daraganj area, and are residents of Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh and Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh.They conducted the rituals at the banks of the Sangam, the police said.They would allegedly beat women and pull their hair under the pretext of casting away evil spirits from them.Some people alerted the police that the accused were seen playing drums while they had tied the hands and feet of the women and beat them with a rope.Deputy Inspector Arvind Kumar Singh reached the spot and saw that people were performing rituals with vermilion and lemon.The police tried to intervene in the exercise and asked the accused to stop, but to no avail.Following this, the police took them all to the station.The accused have been booked under sections 151/107/116 of the CRPC and all of them have been sent to jail after being produced before a magistrate.
--IANS amita/ksk/