Pune: Five people were booked by the Pune rural police for causing the death of an eight-month pregnant woman and her child by taking her to a ‘godman’ for performing superstitious rituals.

The Lonavala Rural police booked the husband of a woman along with four other members of the family. According to the police officials, the accused instead of taking the woman to the hospital took her to the ‘Godman’ but unfortunately, the woman died on February 10. The deceased was identified as Deepali Mahesh Bidkar, residing in Shilim village in Lonavala.

After the death of the woman, her brother Santosh Ashok Magar has filed a case against her husband and other family members. According to the complainant, Deepali married Mahesh Bidkar in April last year. After she became pregnant, her husband and in-laws purportedly harassed her and commanded various commodities from her. During her eighth month of pregnancy, she experienced pain, thus she complained about it to her husband. Instead of taking her to a hospital, the accused allegedly performed some superstitious rituals on her, the complaint read further.

On February 10, when her condition worsened further the accused allegedly took her to a hospital in Talegaon Dabhade where she was declared dead. Police have booked Mahesh Bidkar and four others under relevant sections of IPC and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.