When a 22-year-old aspiring actor filed a complaint against an assistant director for failing to perform a special ritual, for which he allegedly charged her ₹8.5 lakh, the police registered an FIR for cheating.
This is despite the fact that the State Cabinet had passed the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017.
“Though the complainant mentioned human sacrifice, it’s not a fit case to make her accountable as the alleged incident did not take place,” said the Giri Nagar police inspector.
In her complaint, which she lodged on Saturday, Chethana M.L claimed that an assistant director, Nagesh, promised to do the special ritual on her behalf to “ward off evils” and help her grow in the film industry. An FIR was registered and a case was booked against Nagesh and his associate Veena alias Gauri. The police arrested Nagesh, 35, and remanded him in judicial custody on Tuesday.
“Investigation has revealed that the duo were friends and had a financial disagreement in the past. The complainant had even filed a civil case against Nagesh which is pending before the court. However when she did not get the the expected results, she approached the police with a different story,” a senior police officer said.
Chethana reportedly told the police that while she was waiting for a 2015 project to take off, Nagesh approached her stating that she had a bright future in the industry, but was being influenced by evil spirits.
She alleged that Nagesh offered to ward off evil by performing a special ritual and asked her to contact his associate who could help her.
