Police have registered an offence against a man and his two family members at Bhiwandi town in the district for allegedly conducting black magic rituals to exorcise his wife of evil spirits.

The 27-year-old woman had recently filed a complaint at Shanti Nagar Police Station in Bhiwandi, an official said on Saturday.

Based on her complaint, the trio- her husband Faizurhaman Ansari (31), his brother Tufail Ansari and father Alimullah Ansari (56)- were booked on Friday under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, he said.

"As per the complaint, the woman married Faizurahman in April 2016. Around a year later, she gave birth to a boy, who had some abnormality in heart. Soon, Faizurahman also started suffering from some health problems. He and his family members blamed his wife saying it was happening as she was possessed by evil spirits," the official said.

"In February 2018, they took the victim to her sister-in-law's place and locked her into a room, where her father-in-law performed black magic rituals to rid her of evil spirits. He repeated the act for three days," he added.

After that, the woman left her in-laws' place and moved to her parents' house.

Nobody has been arrested in this connection so far.

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