Woman accused of serving urine-laced tea to in-laws, harassing husband

A court here ordered police on Monday to register a case against a woman for allegedly harassing her husband and in-laws because of her supernatural beliefs, which made her resort to acts like serving them tea laced with urine.

A court here ordered police on Monday to register a case against a woman for allegedly harassing her husband and in-laws because of her supernatural beliefs, which made her resort to acts like serving them tea laced with urine.

According to a complaint filed by her mother-in-law, Neha Nagvamshi claimed she was “possessed” by goddess Shakti and demanded that her husband Deepak should perform daily chores and massage her feet. She allegedly harassed her in-laws in the guise of her “spiritual possession”.

The Indore district court directed police to book the woman under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Nagvamshi’s mother-in-law Surajbai claimed she had served members of the family tea mixed with urine and foul food that made them sick. She alleged Nagvamshi mentally tortured family members with her erratic behaviour and instigated quarrels within the family.

Surajbai further alleged that Nagvamshi was backed by her brother Satyam Behl, who works in the police department.

When the family complained about Nagvamshi’s behavior at the women’s police station in Indore, policewoman Sushma Bhaskar supported her claim of “spiritual possession” and asked the family to do as she commanded.

Surajbai’s counsel Krishna Kumar Kunhare said, "The family had to finally approach the women and child development (WCD) department for relief. After an inquiry conducted by WCD officials, the allegations levelled against Neha were proved."

Based on the WCD's report, Judicial Magistrate First Class Rekha R Chandravanshi took cognizance of the matter and ordered police to register a case and investigate the matter.