A court in the southern Indian state of Kerala has sentenced a 50-year-old priest named Rajesh to seven years in prison for raping a woman under the pretext of casting out an evil spirit from her husband.
The Nedumangad Special Court delivered the verdict and ordered Rajesh to pay a fine of 50,000 rupees, according to a report by The Times of India. Judicial officials ordered that he will face an additional year in prison if he fails to settle the financial penalty.
Investigators established that the cleric convinced the victim to attend a specialised religious ceremony, telling her that the ritual would cure her husband of an evil spirit that had supposedly possessed him. Instead of performing the promised spiritual healing, Rajesh assaulted the woman inside a utility room at the temple premises.
According to prosecutors, the sexual violence did not end with a single encounter but continued over the course of several days. The woman eventually escaped the situation and filed a formal complaint with the police, leading officers to arrest Rajesh and open criminal proceedings.
Conviction Under Indian Penal Code
Following the trial proceedings, the court found Rajesh guilty of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. The statutory provision serves as the principal legislation governing sexual assault offenses across the country, setting mandatory terms of imprisonment for individuals convicted of non-consensual sexual acts.
The case was heard before the Nedumangad Special Court, a judicial body located in Thiruvananthapuram district in southern Kerala. In India, designated special courts are established to handle serious offenses, including crimes against women and children, in an effort to provide focused judicial attention and avoid delays common in standard trial courts.
Regional Context and Legal Penalties
The conviction was reported by The Times of India, the country's flagship English-language daily newspaper founded in 1838. Across India, belief in spirit possession and traditional ritual remedies persists in certain communities, leading families dealing with health or domestic problems to seek help from religious practitioners or self-proclaimed healers.
Kerala itself is widely recognized for having the highest literacy rate and highest Human Development Index ranking among Indian states. Despite these broad educational indicators, law enforcement agencies across the region periodically investigate incidents where spiritual authority is abused to exploit people seeking guidance.
Rajesh begins serving his seven-year prison term immediately following the sentencing order. Legal authorities confirmed that the additional one-year sentence remains pending against him if the mandated 50,000 rupees fine is not transferred to the court.
