Woman beaten to death during ‘exorcism’ in Holehonnur; Couple arrested, son on police radar

SHIVAMOGGA: A couple was arrested after a woman died due to torture on the pretext of exorcism at Holehonnur in the district. The victim is Jambaraghatta Geethamma (55) while the arrested couple are Asha (45) and Santosh (51).

The couple allegedly tortured Geethamma on the pretext of exorcising evil spirits from her, leading to her death. Following the incident, the Holehonnur police had registered a suo motu case.

The police have also registered a case against Geethamma’s son Sanjay and released him after questioning to complete the last rites of his mother. He is expected to be taken into custody again. The post-mortem examination on Geethamma was conducted at the McGann Hospital on Tuesday and the body was handed over to the family.

Shivamogga Police Superintendent G K Mithun said a case of murder has been registered. “Geethamma’s son said that locals complained that she would get possessed whenever someone died and would speak differently. He then took her to Asha’s house, who had claimed that she would get possessed by good spirits. Geethamma was chased for a distance of half kilometre and beaten with sticks betwen 9 pm and 1 am”.

Further, he said the couple denied water to Geethamma for drinking and continued to beat her. “She lost consciousness and later died. A case has been registered against three people and futher investigation is under way”, the SP said.