Cleric who forced woman to bathe under waterfall ‘to bear a child’ arrested

The woman had lodged an FIR against her husband, in-laws and Maulana Baba Jamadar on Sunday. In the FIR, the woman alleged that her husband had come in contact with a Maulana from Kolhapur. She alleged that her husband forcibly took her to the Maulana, who performed black magic on her so that her husband would “make a profit in his business”.

The woman claimed that last year, as per instructions of the Maulana, she was forced to take a bath under a waterfall in Raigad district in front of many others so that she would “bear a child”.

Police have booked the woman’s husband, in-laws and the Maulana under sections 498 (a), 323, 420, 504, 406 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, sections of Domestic Violence Act and the Black Magic Act, 2013.

The investigating officer of the case said, “We have arrested accused Maulana Jamadar for further investigation. No more arrests have been made yet.”