Man beaten to death by ‘priest’, transgender

Thane, Sep 7 (PTI) A 25-year-old man, allegedly sufferingfrom mental illness was allegedly killed after he was thrashedby three persons, including a "priest", who claimed to treathim through black magic and witchcraft, police said today. The incident took place in the wee hours yesterday whenSantosh Suryavanshi was taken to a priest, who claimed that heis a healer and will treat the victim with black magic, near atemple in Ulhasnagar, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said. "The man was subjected to torture by the priest his sonand a transgender. They all beat him severely with sticks,rods, belt on the pretext of getting evil spirits off him afterkeeping him captive for hours. He died on the spot," she said. Later, the police reached the spot and recovered the bodyand a case was registered under sections 302 (murder), 342(wrongful confinement), 34 (common intention) of IPC andrelevant sections of Maharashtra Prevention of Black MagicAct-2013. The three accused were arrested yesterday from Ulhasnagarhere, the PRO said. PTI COR ARSDIPRDS