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Pune: Woman lodges complaint against husband and in-laws for taking menstrual blood for Aghori pooja
A horrific incident has come to light in Pune, after a 27-year-old woman lodged a complaint on Tuesday against her husband and in-laws for harassing and collecting her menstrual blood to perform ‘Aghori pooja’
A horrific incident has come to light in Pune, after a 27-year-old woman lodged a complaint on Tuesday against her husband and in-laws for harassing and collecting her menstrual blood to perform ‘Aghori pooja’. The accused hail from Beed district in Maharashtra, said officials from Vishrantwadi police station on Friday.
According to the complaint, the victim has been suspected to physical and mental harassment by the accused since June 2019. The victim alleged, that the accused forcibly took her menstrual blood during Ganesh festival in 2022 to perform an Aghori pooja. The alleged crime took place in Beed district at the victim’s in-laws residence and she has lodged a complaint after she returned to her parents in Pune.
Police sub-inspector Shubhangi Magdum, the investigating officer in the case, said that the victim had returned to her parents home as she was subjected to mental and physical harassment. “ We have lodged an FIR based on her complaint and further action has been initiated against all the accused ,” she stated.
The state women’s commission has taken serious cognisance of the crime.
Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women Commission said, “The accused took the menstrual blood of a woman victim and sold it for ₹50,000 for Aghori pooja. It is a shameful incident which has tarnished humanity. It is shocking that women are still falling to crimes such as these in progressive cities like Pune. There is still a question mark over how much more struggle is necessary to protect women from such crimes and strengthening them further in the society. The state women commission has taken a note of this incident and strict action will be taken against the accused.”
The seven accused have been booked under sections 377 (unnatural offences ), 354 (a) (sexual harassment ) , 498 (a) (cruelty to women) , 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with sections of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other inhuman, evil and Aghori practices and Black Magic Act.
The case has been transferred to Beed city police station.
This was not the first time that an incident related to performing Aghori Pooja is reported in Pune. A similar incident was reported in 2022, wherein a woman was forced to eat human and animal bones by her husband and in-laws during their pooja for conceiving a child.
