Man held for raping woman during ‘black magic’ routine

A 32-year-old serial offender was arrested from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly raping a woman here pretending to cure her epilepsy through black magic, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, Suraj alias Bhagat, a resident of Samaypur Badli in north Delhi, was arrested from Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad, they said.

On Sunday, police had received a tip-off that Suraj, a parole jumper wanted in case of raping a woman in Seemapuri area, was hiding in Ghaziabad, police said.

On Monday, another tip-off followed that narrowed his location to Arthala village in Mohan Nagar, they said. Suraj was arrested from a flat he had rented in the village to hide, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

A known criminal, Suraj was sentenced to 10 years’ jail for committing a series of dacoities, murder, and other violent assaults in June 2012 in Mangolpuri, Samaypur Badli, and Maurya Enclave areas. In June 2020, during COVID pandemic in 2020, he was released on parole, which he jumped, police said.

While on parole, he claimed that he learnt black magic watching YouTube videos and started cheating people by offering treatment of their ailments, they said.

In August, 2021, he started treating a woman in Seemapuri for epilepsy through black magic. One day during his sham routine he spiked her drink and raped her when she became unconscious, police said. When she came to, he threatened her not to tell anyone about the incident, they said. The woman lodged a complaint against him at Seemapuri Police Station and a rape case was registered against him there.

After he fled the area, a reward of Rs 1 lakh was declared on his arrest, said police.