Alappuzha: The police at Nooranad in Alappuzha district of Kerala have arrested five persons on charges of torturing a young woman under the guise of ‘exorcising’ her. Those arrested are the woman’s husband Kizhakkathil Aneesh (34) of Adoor; relatives Shahina (23) and Shibu (31) of Thamarakulam and the alleged sorcerers Anwar Hussain (28) and Imamuddin (35) of Kulathupuzha and Sulaiman (52) of Punalur.

The woman was subjected to cruelty on three occasions since August this year on the pretext of driving away a ‘spirit’ which had ‘possessed’ her. The first incident took place at a rented house in Mangharam, Vallikunnam, where the woman lived with her family. She was tortured again later at the house of Shibu in Thamarakulam as part of a ‘follow-up treatment’.

On December 11, the woman was brought to another rented house at Athikkattukulangara in Nooranad for a third round of exorcism. However, the frightened woman ran away from the house during the ‘ritual’ and the five accused chased her. They shouted to onlookers that the woman was suffering from a mental illness.

According to the police, the accused also thrashed the woman’s mother, who tried to save her. The police team which made the arrests included Circle Inspector P Sreejith, sub-inspectors Nidheesh and Rajeev, junior sub-inspector Deepu Pillai, assistant sub-inspector Pushpan and civil police officers Sreekala, Prasanna, Ratheesh, Arun and Santhosh.