A man has been arrested in Hapur for allegedly removing part of a skull from a burning pyre to influence a woman through occult practice.
According to experts, religious and spiritual influences can affect life decisions beyond the normal.
An 11-year-old boy was brutally murdered in Rajasthan's Pali district in what police are suspecting to be a case of human sacrifice. The accused, a 30-year-old man from the same village as the victim, allegedly committed the murder after a 'tantrik' (occultist) assured him that making a human sacrifice would solve his long-standing marital problems.
A man in Lucknow and his accomplice have been arrested for allegedly strangling his minor daughter to death, disfiguring her face with acid, and dumping her body near a canal. The crime was motivated by suspicion about the girl's activities and fear of social stigma, according to police.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare has called for a thorough investigation into the Ashok Kharat case, urging Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prioritise the investigation over political manoeuvring. Andhare also demanded that the SIT probe former minister Deepak Kesarkar and former state women's commission chairperson Rupali Chakankar.
A 37-year-old self-styled godman was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly cheating several people by claiming to possess divine powers and performing 'aghori' rituals.
Some Indian museum collections go far beyond the expected, unlocking quirky facts you never knew about. Or displaying the most intriguing items.
"Sahil got Muskan to kill her husband. First, he made her sit on Saurabh's chest. Then he brought a knife from the kitchen, showed her how to wield it and directed her to insert the knife in Saurabh's heart thrice.
Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, has resigned following criticism over her association with rape-accused 'godman' Ashok Kharat. The resignation comes after opposition parties highlighted Chakankar's links with Kharat, who is accused of sexual assault and fraud.
Self-styled 'godman' and numerologist Ashok Kharat has been arrested in Nashik on charges of sexual assault and black magic, setting off a political storm. How did he manage to operate undetected for so long?
A 42-year-old tantrik arrested for allegedly conspiring to murder a businessman died in police custody in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, after confessing to killing 12 people by giving them drinks laced with sodium nitrite. Navalsinh Chavda was arrested on December 3 and died on Sunday after falling ill. Police are investigating his occult practices and possible involvement in human sacrifices.
The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT), which runs Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, has accused its former trustees and related individuals of misappropriating over Rs 1,500 crore. The trust has filed complaints with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Bandra Police Station, alleging that the misappropriation, uncovered during a forensic audit, has impacted the trust's operations and healthcare services. The trust has also claimed that black magic was performed in the hospital premises by former trustees and related individuals. The Bandra Magistrate Court has ordered an inquiry against these individuals. The current trustees have identified large-scale irregularities in the hospital management body's affairs and appointed forensic auditors who found that over Rs 1,500 crore has been siphoned and misappropriated by the former trustees. The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated a probe into an alleged cheating case of Rs 85 crore registered against three former trustees of the hospital.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative involving precision-flying, Indian Space Research Organisation on Thursday successfully launched the Proba-3 mission onboard a PSLV-C59 rocket, a solar experiment undertaken by the European Space Agency.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has rescheduled the launch of PSLV-C59 to Thursday due to an "anomaly" detected in the PROBA-3 spacecraft. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday at 4.08 pm from the spaceport in Sriharikota. The anomaly was identified by scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA), who requested the rescheduling of the launch. The PROBA-3 mission, a joint project between ESA and ISRO, aims to study the Sun's corona using two spacecraft that will fly in formation. The launch will provide valuable insights for ISRO's future solar missions, including the Aditya-L1 mission which was launched in September 2023.
An additional chief judicial magistrate sent the accused to nine days of police remand on Monday.
Dismissing reports of the Burari family practising superstitious rituals, Vishakha said all the cousins were excited about Priyanka's (one of the victims) wedding and "things like registers with notes on salvation" never came up for any discussion among them.
The information and broadcasting ministry has issued a stern advisory to all TV channels against telecasting programmes promoting superstitions, occult practices and blind belief, warning that punitive action will be taken in case of any violations. The advisory comes in the wake of the civil society and many media critics expressing concern over a flood of such programmes of late -- especially on Hindi and regional language channels -- to garner TRPs.
Bibek Debroy was one of the very few economists not bound by any single area of expertise and was simultaneously curious about economics and politics, myths and maths, chess and chemistry, and what not, remembers Laveesh Bhandari.
A neighbour, on the condition of anonymity, said the Bhatia family would never invite neighbours to their house.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a scathing attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on his home turf, calling him a "tantrik" (occultist) and his party "Rashtriya Jadu Tona Party" as he reached out to the youth and weaker sections, promising a six-point programme for the state's development.
800 gets so lost in celebrating its grand subject that it forgets something pretty elementary: Cricket is a team sport!, notes Sreehari Nair.
A relative of the family suspected foul play in the incident, saying that 'they were educated people and not superstitious'.
It is on the exact spot where the Guru is said to have created 108 waterfalls, that the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA on the night of December 9, 2022. As it had done in Ladakh in May 2020, the PLA tried to change the unmarked LAC in the Yangtse sector in Arunachal Pradesh. It was the most serious border incident since the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, notes Claude Arpi.
By the time, the story decides it has dilly dallied enough and finally throws light on its long-drawn-out mystery, curiosity has died a natural death, sighs Sukanya Verma.
It is unusual in democratic countries two decades into the 21st century for laws to become regressive instead of progressive. But that is clearly what is happening in India today and more of this is ahead, asserts Aakar Patel.
At the centre of the crackdown are two studios holding classes for Hatha Yoga -- a set of asanas or postures involving deep breathing and tough physical exercises, which as per Hindu mythology was first practised by Lord Shiva.
Though the list of superstitious beliefs is long, often dissolving distinctions of class, caste, religion and education, Karnataka's anti-superstition bill is seen as a big step ahead.
A nation that aspires to be a superpower and wants to join the ranks of global leaders in knowledge, science and technology should declare an all out war on ills like superstition and black magic at all levels, says Dinesh C Sharma.
They detailed how by following the rituals, one would not actually die "but would be saved by God and attain something great".
A big part of October's charm is in its taking of a cinematic tragedy and presenting to us how we may experience it in real life, says Sreehari Nair.
While filled with startling insights and questions, and buoyed by terrific performances throughout, Newton suffers from a lack of end-to-end clarity. It is a near-great film but one that for some reason doesn't express itself fully, feels Sreehari Nair.
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