Spookiest Criminal cases ever!

India is a country known to uphold its culture, traditions, customs and rituals. But what
happens when it comes in intersection with humanity? Below is a collection of cases that has
a certain spooky element to it. Let us see what blind belief, fallacies and superstitions can do
to a human’s ability of judgement.

1. Sanjay Nagorao Pote vs State of Maharashtra (2014)

On the 17th of October, 2014, the accused Sanjay Nagarao entered the house where his uncle
Ramdas and his children (including the deceased) resided. He then proclaimed that God
Hanuman had entered into his body and that there was a ghost in the house of Ramdas which
had to be removed by him, as asked by God, by performing an exorcism.

Following this, Sanjay slapped all the family members, commanded them to take a bath,
poured water on his own head, and even sprinkled some on all of them. He also operated the
water pump in the courtyard and drenched them in water. He then went on to thrust the water
pipe into the mouth of Vitthal- the son of Ramdas and the deceased in this case; sat on his
chest and proclaimed again that he would remove the ghost from Vitthals’s body which
ultimately led to the death of Vitthal. The accused also hit Ramdas with a stone due to which
he sustained injuries. As soon as the villagers arrived at the crime scene, the accused
announced that no one was to enter the compound as God was inside his body. The post-
mortem suggests the cause of death as asphyxia due to aspiration of water and also a
homicidal one.

When Ramdas- who was the primary witness was deposed, he stated that the accused had
been dancing, chanting the name of Lord Hanuman, and behaving abnormally 10-12 days
before the crime; after some time, he would also regain senses and behave normally. The
accused when examined by a doctor, suggested that the abnormality in behaviour could be a
result of trauma due to his brother’s death that happened only a couple of weeks before the
crime or even schizophrenia.

The trial court had convicted Sanjay on accounts of section 302 and 324 of IPC but when
appealed to the HC of Bombay, the judgment of the trial court was set aside and the accused
was acquitted on the grounds of Section 84 of IPC i.e., the act being done by a person of
unsound mind is no offense and that there was no evidence on the preparation of crime, no
motive, and no mens rea.

2. Vidya Vinod Dhakate and Others vs State of Maharashtra (2008)

This is another case where superstitious beliefs resulted in an unfortunate death. Here, the
deceased is Vinod Dhakate and the accused are his wife-Vidya Dhakate and eight others. It
was a known fact that the deceased had been mentally unstable for a long time and in pursuit
of this, he was alleged to be violent and beat others. So, the primary accused was persuaded
by the rest, to bring the victim to the seat of Lord Dattatray which was at the residence of the
co-accused to perform pooja and aarti. The accused believed that her husband was possessed
by an evil spirit and by doing so, the ghost would leave his body. Thereafter, the victim’s
hands and legs were tied to a pole, he was placed in the said area that was an open courtyard,
without a shed, in the scorching sun when the temperature was around 40℃. He was not
given food or water and this plight of his continued for five consecutive days until he
succumbed to death. The autopsy reported the cause of death to be cardiorespiratory arrest
secondary to deprivation of food, water, and exposure to high environmental temperature.
The skin was said to be dry, wrinkled, and inelastic; stomach and intestine- empty; and all
vital organs shrunk and pale.

There were 17 prosecution witnesses out of which 4 had turned hostile. According to the
witnesses, there was crying for food and water and a few neighbours even came to offer
water to the deceased but were stopped by the accused. On the morning of the day that the
victim died, one of them even lodged a written report in the police station but no action was
taken. Another witness stated that the house of the co-accused was often used to treat cases of
possession of ghosts by pooja, aarti, magic, etc.

Further, the accused went for an appeal to the Bombay HC. It was held that the question of
whether the death of the victim was homicidal, was not paid attention to by the trial court.
Although the accused lacked intention, there was knowledge of a likely death under the
hostile conditions. Thereby, the omission to care does amount to homicidal death. The next
question to be answered was whether this amounted to murder? The court’s answer was a no
because of the fact that the deceased was alive 5 days prior; one could not infer that he would
die. Thereby, the accused were convicted under Section 304 part II and Section 342 of IPC.
Additionally, the accused went for an appeal to the Supreme Court who set aside the
conviction under 304 part II and said the accused be held punishable only under Section 304
A of IPC and the sentence for imprisonment be only for the period already undergone.

3. The State of Maharashtra vs Dyaneshwar Haribhau Kulal (2008)

This is a case of a merciless homicide wherein the accused, on accounts that the victim had,
by means of black magic, killed his father in the year 1972, went on to murder the victim.
According to the statements of a number of witnesses, there had been arguments between the
accused and the victim, and the victim even agreed to conduct a Jatra ceremony to neutralize
the effects of the black magic. However, the accused went on to threaten to kill the victim on
the morning of the day he committed the crime. It was also inferred that there was a skull and
other articles lying around the field where the body was recovered; the head of the deceased
was completely severed from the body and was held by the hair and flashed to a witness in
this case who was threatened to have the same fate if he were to complain about the incident.
It is also known that the accused had his sickle sharpened five days before the murder; he
also used the sickle to behead a she-goat; he was absconding after committing the crime and
was also on bail for another murder case.

The post-mortem suggests that the injuries sustained on the victim’s body were inflicted by
the sickle recovered. Further, the court held that it is a clear case of pre-mediated, calculated,
cold-blooded murder. The trial court convicted him of the death penalty. The accused then
went for an appeal to the Bombay HC who upheld the judgment of the trial court.

4. Jitu Murmu vs State of Odisha on (2020)

Yet another case that involves superstitions. The deceased in this case- Sambari Murmu had
gone to her maternal uncle- Rame Murmu’s residence who was locally known to be a self-
studied supernatural medicine expert. On account of unwellness, she wished to receive
indigenous treatment. On the pretext of this, Rame Murmu and his family tied the victim’s
legs and hands and assaulted her with a Trisul/Trident, rope, and iron rod. This resulted in
gruesome injuries and ultimately the death of the victim. The accused and his family had
performed an exorcism on the victim on the belief that she was possessed with an evil spirit
that had resulted in abnormal behaviour. As she started to shout, they believed that she was
possessed by an evil spirit. And in order to retrieve the remnants of the “evil spirit” from her
body, the accused had done the said act. Each of the accused have also admitted to practicing
such techniques with another woman of the same village.
The autopsy reveals that the victim had been inflicted with penetrative injuries even in her
chest wall and lungs. And that the said injuries were caused by Trident, Gainthi, and Sabala.
The accused were convicted under sections 302, 307, 323, 324, 325, 326, 342, 34 of IPC and
Sections 5 & 6 of the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2013

5. Ram Swaroop vs State (2019)

Vimla, the deceased in this case was married to the son of the accused- Ram Swaroop. After
four days of the said marriage, the victim contacted her family on account of being assaulted
by her father-in-law on the pretext that she was afflicted by ghosts. When her father and
brother intervened, the accused told them not to interfere and that he will relieve her of the
evil spirits completely. The incident happened once more and the same reply was given by
the accused.

On the day of the murder, while the accused was eating with her family, the accused comes in
and hits her with an iron rod. He was also heard telling the witnesses to keep away or the
spirits might afflict them too. The accused had created a situation of terror to the extent that
none of the witnesses reported the incident. The deceased was cremated the very next day
without performing an autopsy. After a few days, it was the victim’s brother that mustered
the courage to report the incident and thereby led to the arrest of the accused. Additionally, he
also submitted CDs and photos as evidence of assault on the deceased. The accused was
convicted under section 302 of IPC. Further, on appeal, the HC of Rajasthan sided with the
appellant’s counsel who stated that it was to be considered as an act of ignorance and that it
was a usual practice in the village by Bhopas and Tantriks to repel evil spirit and even
occasionally indulge in the beating because they’re convinced that doing so will alleviate the
symptoms. One fact that the victim or her parents did not disclose is that she suffered from
seizures or fits. Therefore, the accused considered seizures as a sign of evil spirit and due to
illiteracy had committed the crime. Further, the HC also toned down the grounds of
conviction to Section 304 part II of IPC and reduced the period of sentence to the one already
undergone by the accused and thereby officiated his release.

6. Lachhman Dass Alias Lakha vs State Of Himachal Pradesh (2008)

The accused in this case had come in contact with the victim on a bus ride and he claimed to
be a sorcerer as well as a Tantric. The victim- Lata Devi was at her parent’s home for the
festivities of Navaratri and subsequently had contacted the accused for performing Puja.
However, the accused did not leave even after Dussehra. One night, the accused pointed to a
mark he made in the backyard and asked the victim’s father to dig so as to find idols of
deities. However, only stone was found and it was taken by the accused to the puja room of
the house. A day after this incident, the deceased started behaving abnormally; she began
scratching her head rigorously and hit her hands and wrists on the ground. The accused on
seeing this told her family members that she is possessed by an evil spirit and that because he
knew exorcism, he could retrieve the evil spirit from it if he were given the whole night, he
could exorcise the spirit out of her body. He then took her to the pooja room and beat her
with tongs and a chain and told the others that if they were to interfere, they would be
afflicted with the evil spirit as well. The next day, the victim seemed silent and emotionless
only to go back to being abnormal at night. The accused again took her to the puja room on
the pretext of retrieving the remnants of the evil spirit from her body. The next day, the
deceased laid in the puja room, motionless, and was subsequently taken to the hospital where
she was declared brought dead. The accused went to the extent of stating again that he would
revive her with his powers.

The post-mortem suggested that there were abrasions and contusions on the body, blood-
tinged froth in the nose and mouth and that the death was caused due to vasovagal shock due
to repeated hitting of the victim with the tongs. The tongs and chains were retrieved from the
crime scene while the accused was present.

The court held that due to the absence of intention, it is a case of culpable homicide not
amounting to murder and convicted the accused under Section 304 part II of IPC.

Conclusion

Indian case records have a large number of cases with the spooky elements of witchery, black
magic, evil spirits, exorcism, sorcery, etc. As the numbers of it are not small, India has
regulations to curb these unethical practices too. The reason for these many cases is blind
faith and superstition. This blind faith clouds people’s judgment and thereby commits
inhumane crimes. Another reasoning would be illiteracy. There are a number of cases that go
unreported too. People in rural areas have to be made aware of the ethics of such practices
and be made aware by sensitization campaigns on the same. Although wiping out unethical
age-old rituals and practices is a difficult task, it is very much a necessity too. Otherwise,
innocent people will have to suffer the plight. Moreover, a well-established mechanism for
the implementation of the existing laws, and the creation of new ones is of utmost
importance.