Saharanpur: Police have booked an occult practitioner for allegedly raping a 20-year-old Dalit woman under the pretext of performing rituals, police here said on Monday.

The survivor’s family filed a complaint at the Deoband Police Station, accusing Alfaz of raping the woman during a “treatment session” on Sunday night.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Rural Sagar Jain, told PTI that Alfaz, a resident of Mohalla Khankah in Deoband, claims to cure serious ailments through occult practices.

The victim’s family had called him to their house to treat their ailing daughter.

According to the complaint, Alfaz sent the woman’s mother out of the room on some pretext during the ritual and allegedly raped the woman before fleeing the spot.

When the woman’s condition worsened, she confided in her mother, who immediately informed her father. The family then approached the police, and the woman was sent for medical examination.

Jain said two police teams have been formed to arrest Alfaz.