In yet another incident of crime againt women in Tamil Nadu, a Muslim maulvi claiming to be an exorcist had sexually abused a woman inside a mosque under the pretext of driving away evil spirits.
Chinnaponnu is the wife of Sakthivel hailing from Thittakkudi near Virudhachalam in Cuddalore district. The 22-year-old woman has been having health issues for a long time.
The neighbours claimed that she might have been possessed by evil spirits. On their advice, Sakthivel along with other family members had taken his wife to the Jumma Mosque in Pennadam near Vriddhachalam.
Abdul Hani, a 54-year-old Muslim man claiming to be a sorcerer and an exorcist, had tied black threads on the hands of Sakthivel and other family members and asked them to wait outside while taking Chinnaponnu to a room inside the mosque.
A curious Sakthivel had peeped through the window to see how the maulvi was driving away the evil spirits. The maulvi reportedly took some incense sticks near the nose of the woman which made her unconscious following which he sexually abused her.
A shocked Sakthivel barged into the room to save his wife from the maulvi. He later went to the Pennadam police station to file a complaint. The police allegedly refused to file a case against the maulvi initially but later when the inspector of the station was informed that the victims belonged to the scheduled caste, a case was filed.
During interrogation, the police found that the statements made by the maulvi were incoherent. As per a report by Samayam Tamil, he later accepted to having committed the crime.
The victim reportedly told the police that she remembers only till the moment the maulvi grabbed her legs after which she fell unconscious.
While Polimer News reported that the police were taking steps to arrest the maulvi, the Tamil publication of Times of India has reported that the maulvi allegedly tried to bribe the police for getting released.
He reportedly told the police that his ‘business’ would go under loss if he were to be arrested as it would put his reputation of an ‘exorcist’ at stake.
Samayam Tamil reported that the police allegedly tried to strike a deal to let the maulvi go off. They reportedly received an acknowledment from the victim’s husband that nothing happened. For this, the Abdul Hani is said to have paid the victim’s husband and the police in lakhs.
The report by Samayam Tamil implies that the maulvi has been released after a compromised was reached by the affected parties.
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