CHENNAI: She was called in to ‘relieve’ a family of evil spirits. Instead, she relieved them of over a 100 sovereigns of gold and Rs 8 lakh cash.
According to the police, 45-year-old Narayani, a resident of Perumbakkam, was called by a family residing in Neelankarai for a special pooja. The head of the family, Sivakumar, is a businessman. His wife died in 2018 after her saree caught fire while cooking at home.
“A few months later, Narayani, who was then their neighbour in Palavakkam, visited Sivakumar and his daughter at their home. She convinced them that the death of the woman was due to evil spirits wandering their house. Sivakumar believed Narayani since few neighbours had said that her methods worked for them. She had even ‘cured’ a relative of Sivakumar from some illness,” an officer said.
“For the remedial puja, Narayani took 11.5 sovereigns of gold and RS 1.5 lakh from Sivakumar. She had promised to return the cash and gold in 45 days but she did not. She claimed later that she had to hold on to it for at least a year for the spirits to leave.
Simultaneously, she told Sivakumar’s relatives that since they had visited his home, they too could come under the hold of the spirit.” Over a span of six months, she collected close to 90 sovereigns of gold and Rs 6 lakh cash from seven relatives, said the police.
Sivakumar waited till mid-2019, but was growing suspicious meantime. He kept asking Narayani to return his valuables, in vain. He made the last contact in the beginning of 2020, after which she went into hiding. Later, Sivakumar lodged a complaint based on which Narayani was arrested from her hideout on Wednesday. Pawnbroker Rathan Lal, to whom she had sold the jewels was also arrested. The pawnbroker had already melted the jewels, turned them into new ornaments, and sold them off. Narayani has been remanded in judicial custody.