Kottayam: An affair that began with the promise of marriage took a 24-year-old woman through an agonizing turn of events at Manarcadu in Kottayam. It involved repeated taunts for 'possessing evil spirit', bringing bad luck eventually culminating in a traumatic exorcism act which spanned 10 hours.

Such was the extent of the torture that she blacked out and woke up with excruciating pain and wounds on her body. 

The police have registered cases against five people and three of them including her partner, Akhil, were arrested on Friday. She had been living at Akhil's house when the incident took place on Sunday. 

“The family claimed that since my mother’s sister died a month ago, her spirit had entered me. When I talked to my husband or laughed and joked with him, his mother would call this sorcerer, who told her it was because of a spirit inside me,” the woman told Onmanorama.

“He placed three plates of water mixed separately with turmeric, ash, and turmeric with quicklime, along with alcohol, in front of me. Then he started tying knots around my legs and hands using a long piece of fabric. During this time, I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, they told me I had drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and that the burn marks on my head were from that,” she added.

She said the sorcerer claimed that eight spirits possessed her body, all of which he had “exorcised.”

"Each spirit was exorcised after hitting me on the head with a nail attached to a piece of wood. He also cut my hair. I was unconscious for most of the time. Before I fainted, I asked them what was happening, but he silenced me, saying it was the bad spirit talking," she said.

She also alleged that the family consulted the sorcerer frequently. "My partner said he wasn’t aware of it. Even the reason our marriage was delayed was because of him. Whenever the topic came up, he said I had some bad luck," she added.

She met Akhil three months ago. Having studied up to Class 12, she worked at a textile shop and became acquainted with Akhil, who worked at a nearby workshop. “When she told us about the relationship, we didn’t object. Her sister’s wedding had just taken place, so we asked for at least six months to arrange hers. But he and his mother were not willing to wait, so she left with him on September 26. We had no contact after that until she called on Tuesday,” said Raju, the woman's father.

“We raised her for 24 years. What new illness did she suddenly develop in these three months?” he added.  She is the youngest of three daughters of Raju and his wife Jessy.

Two days after the ritual, she went to see her sister at her workplace. “Before the sorcerer left, he said I would receive a call after three days. Then I got a call saying my mother was sick. I was scared they might do something to her, so I went to meet my sister.”

“When I first called my sister, she was angry that I left home. But when she saw me, she got scared because of the scars. She gave me money and asked me to go home immediately.  Still, instead of going home, I returned to that house. If we wanted to file a complaint, we needed proof. I knew Akhil’s sister had recorded videos. She wouldn’t give them, so I filmed them from her phone using mine.”

After receiving the videos and photos, Raju approached the Manarcadu police station and filed a complaint. Police accompanied him to Akhil’s house and brought the woman home.

Later that day, she met Akhil at Nagampadam Park. “He promised it would not happen again and claimed he didn’t know anything. But I knew it would continue. The sorcerer used a bathroom tile for the ritual. He didn’t look like a genuine person,” she said. 

Raju said the woman fainted after reaching home and was taken to hospital. After she recovered, police recorded her statement and arrested the accused.

“My health is better now. What hurts is that someone you loved could treat you this way,” she said.

Manarcadu Police have arrested Shivadas (54), the sorcerer, also known as Shivan Thirumeni, of Maadachira House, Perumthuruthi, Pathanamthitta, Akhil Das (26), the woman’s partner and Das (55), Akhil’s father. Akhil’s mother, named as a co-accused, is currently absconding. The accused were produced before the Kottayam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-III and remanded into judicial custody.