Four held for killing 50-year-old, his mother

Khadakpada police on Saturday arrested three persons add detained a minor in Kalyan for the murder of a 50-year-old man and his 76-year-old mother on Friday. According

Khadakpada police on Saturday arrested three persons add detained a minor in Kalyan for the murder of a 50-year-old man and his 76-year-old mother on Friday. According to the police, a self-proclaimed godman allegedly told the 50-year-old’s minor son, niece, and nephew that the victims were possessed by an evil spirit. The four assaulted then the victims to ward off the spirit.

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The victims have been identified as Pandharinath Tare and his mother Chandubai Tare.

The accused have been identified as the deceased man’s 17-year-old son, niece Kavita Tare, 27, nephew Vinayak Tare, 22, and the godman Surendra Patil, 32. All are residents of Atali village in Kalyan.

According to police, Tare knew Patil through a friend. After his 27-year-old niece started action erratically over the last few months, Tare decided to visit the godman to find some solution for her problem.

Ashok Pawar, senior inspector of Khadakpada police station, said, “The victim and his wife used to take their niece Kavita to Patil’s house once a week. He used to chant mantras to treat her, but they did not work. On Friday evening, Patil visited the deceased’s house to find out the reason behind Kavita’s behaviour. He told the family that Tare and his mother were possessed by an evil spirit. Patil claimed that Kavita would recover only if he killed the spirit. He instructed the three other accused to beat the victims while he chanted mantras.”

Kavita, Vinayak, and the 17-year-old started assaulting the two with sticks and throwing turmeric on them while Patil chanted. “They assaulted the victims for over four hours until both were left unconscious. They thought that ‘treatment’ had worked but after two hours, when the victims did not wake up, Tare’s wife called another nephew Devendra Bhoir, 34, for help. They then took the 50-year-old and 76-year-old to a nearby hospital where they were declared dead on arrival,” said an officer from Khadakpada police station.

Bhoir also informed the police of the incident, following which the accused were charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013. The 17-year-old will be sent to a remand home while the three other accused are in police custody. Police are awaiting the victims’ postmortem report.