After hours-long interrogation, the Ernakulam Rural police recorded the arrest of a pregnant woman on charge of murdering her stepdaughter and booked another person on charge of ‘sorcery’ after it emerged that he had allegedly conducted witchcraft to free the woman of the ‘spirits’ that had possessed her.

The woman was identified as Aneesha, 23, originally from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh. Naushad, 56, of Nellikkuzhy, a local ‘sorcerer’, was also booked. She along with her husband was taken into custody by the Ernakulam Rural police after their six-year-old daughter was found dead in her bedroom at their house at Kuttilanji Puthupalam in Pazoormolam ward in Nellikkuzhy grama panchayat near Kothamangalam on Thursday morning (December 19).

The deceased’s father had reported the death of her daughter to his neighbours who in turn alerted the police. Though she reportedly confessed to the alleged murder, the nitty gritty of the crime was revealed only after the nearly five-hour-long interrogation led by District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vaibhav Saxena since the previous evening.

He took over the interrogation after the post-mortem report conclusively suggested smothering. The police had to adapt to novel means, including confronting her with Naushad, who was taken into custody on the statement of the accused and her husband.

She was booked on charge of murder, and her arrest was recorded on Thursday around 10.30 p.m. Later, she was subjected to a medical examination, which proved that she was physically and mentally fit. The police concluded that her husband had no role in the alleged murder since he was reportedly not in the house when the crime was allegedly committed.

Though Naushad too was not found directly linked to the alleged crime or having instigated it, he was booked under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, after the police came across several photographs with women on the pretext of conducting sorcery in his mobile phone.

He also allegedly persuaded the deceased’s father, his long-time client, to leave the girl in his care on the pretext that Aneesha being possessed might harm his daughter leading the police to suspect his shady dealings. The police also raided his house and seized many articles supposedly used for sorcery on Friday morning (December 20).

Aneesha and her husband had got married in Uttar Pradesh in March this year and came to stay at their house in Kothamangalam four months ago. The husband’s father had bought it almost three decades ago. It was the second marriage for both of them, and both had a daughter each from their previous marriages.

The post-mortem report suggested that the victim was a battered child and weighed only 16 kg, which was 25% malnourished for her age.