Conviction Claimed spiritual healing or mediumship Itarsi, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India · 2019

India: tantrik 'Baba' and six accomplices convicted of raping a child delivered to him under a religious-ceremony pretext

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

self-styled tantrik 'Baba'

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The victim was obtained specifically through a religious-ceremony pretext (kanyabhoj) that traded on her family's trust in the ritual, and the assault itself was framed and justified to her as tantra vidya.

Ritual, oath, or initiation
Prosperity, divination, or curse-removal claim

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2019-06-01 · conviction and sentence

Second Additional Sessions Court, Itarsi, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India. Rameshwar, a self-styled tantrik known as 'Baba', and six accomplices were convicted of the rape of a minor girl who had been delivered to him under the pretext of taking her to a religious katha and kanyabhoj (ritual feeding/worship of young girls as embodiments of the goddess); he raped her twice, invoking tantra vidya (occult ritual practice) as part of the assault. Judge Preeti Singh sentenced all seven to five years' imprisonment under the POCSO Act plus concurrent sentences for kidnapping and wrongful confinement, with fines.

Documented coercion mechanisms

kanyabhoj (ritual girl-worship ceremony) used as a pretext to obtain custody of the child
claimed tantra vidya (occult ritual power) invoked during the assault

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'कन्याभोज के बहाने बच्ची को छोड़ा तांत्रिक बाबा के पास, बाबा ने बच्ची के साथ तंत्र विद्या के बहाने किया दुष्कर्म', Patrika News.: Report of the conviction, sentence, and the kanyabhoj/tantra-vidya pretext facts.

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