Bengaluru: Newlywed tortured by in-laws for being ‘possessed’

Bengaluru: Can you believe that a woman can be tortured for being ‘possessed’ in the IT City? It’s happening right in our midst. A 36-year-old newly married woman was assaulted and tortured by her in-laws for four days, accusing her of possessing evil spirit.

The victim, identified as Satheeshwari, was confined to her house in Kadugondenahalli and tortured by her mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law after she returned from Velankani last Friday. She got married to Soundaraj, 38, a tiles contractor by profession, about six months ago.

“The ordeal started from Friday, when my in-laws locked me up in a room saying that I was possessed by a spirit,” Satheeswari told Deccan Chronicle. They beat me up for the first three days. On Monday as early as 4 am, I was dragged out from my bed, made to lie on a mat in the pooja room. The family members caught my hands and legs and walked on my limbs. They then took a fiber pipe and started beating me on my face. The two sisters poked my eyes and one of them put her finger in my throat attempting to take the evil spirit from me. I puked, cried and pleaded with them that I was Satheeshwari and not a ghost, but they wouldn’t listen,” she said.

“They also plucked locks of hairs from my head, and when I cried for help calling my husband. They gagged me and warned Sounderaj and told him to get out of the house,” she added.

The victim managed to convey her plight to a distant relative and informed her family members, who rushed to her rescue. They admitted her to Dr B.R. Ambedkar Medical College, where she is currently undergoing treatment.

Though the victim and her relative approached the Kadugondenahalli police and filed a complaint, the police termed it as a routine husband-wife quarrel took up an NCR (non-cognizable report).