Conviction Claimed spiritual healing or mediumship Robertsganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, India · 2026

India: self-styled 'ojha' faith healer and an accomplice sentenced to life for assaulting a woman under an exorcism pretext

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

self-styled ojha (traditional exorcist/faith healer)

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The victim submitted to isolation with the defendant specifically because he held himself out as an ojha capable of exorcism/healing; that claimed spiritual power over her affliction was the pretext for the assault.

Exorcism or deliverance
Spiritual healing or treatment

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2026-06-15 · conviction and sentence

Additional Sessions Court (FTC), Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Ojha Jagdev Sharma, a self-styled traditional exorcist, and his associate Lalu Sharma were convicted of sexually assaulting a woman from Varanasi district whom Sharma had isolated on the pretext of performing jhaad-phoonk (exorcism) to cure her. Additional Sessions Judge Bipin Kumar sentenced both to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh each, with half of each fine directed to the victim; the case had been pending since the woman's 2017 complaint.

Documented coercion mechanisms

exorcism ritual (jhaad-phoonk) used to isolate the victim
invoked spiritual power to compel compliance

Primary record

Sources

regional newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'दुष्कर्म के दोषी ओझा समेत दो को आजीवन कारावास की सजा', Swatantra Prabhat, Jun. 2026.: Report of the conviction, sentence and exorcism-pretext facts.
regional newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'सोनभद्र में दुष्कर्म मामले में दाे अभियुक्तों को आजीवन कारावास, अर्थदंड भी लगा', Tarun Mitra.: Corroborating regional report of the same verdict.

Related record

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