In a shocking incident, a 27-year-old woman, along with her two cousins, allegedly battered her 50-year-old uncle and his 72-year-old mother to death while trying to “remove devil powers” from their bodies on the advice of a tantrik in Thane district of Maharashtra.

The incident took place at Atali village near Kalyan city in the district on Saturday night. The victims were identified as Pandarinath and his mother Chandubai Tare. According to the police, Pandarinath’s niece Kavita Tare, nephew Vinayak and his 17-year-old son (minor’s identity not disclosed) had come in contact with a tantrik, identified as Surendra Patil (35).

The tantrik allegedly told the trio that Kavita’s body has “supernatural powers” while the now-deceased mother-son duo had “devil powers”. He gave them instructions for removing “devil powers” from their bodies. Thereafter, Kavita, along with her two cousins, began thrashing her uncle and grandmother after putting turmeric powder on their bodies on Saturday. The brutal battering left the mother-son duo dead.

Thane Police have arrested all the four accused, including the tantric. They have been booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human and Other Inhuman, Evil And Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.

In another incident, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly murdered by her father on the instructions of a woman tantrik in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu in May. The accused father, identified as Paneerselvam, was tired of frequent fights in his family over financial issues. So, on his wife’s advice he approached tantrik Vasanthi, who told him to sacrifice his youngest child for “good fortune”.