In a bizarre incident that happened in the north Indian city of Meerut in the Uttar Pradesh state, a woman's in-laws had allegedly conspired to get her raped to ward off the threat to her husband's life. The incident came to light on Saturday (23 September) when the woman's family registered a police complaint against her in-laws.

In the complaint, the woman said that she got married to a cloth trader of Hapur district on 15 September. She alleged that after her wedding ceremony she was given an intoxicating drink that dulled her senses and hence she could not resist the assault on her.

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She claimed that instead of her husband, her brother-in-law and a tantric entered her room on the wedding night and they raped her.

The woman said when she confronted the other family members in the morning they told her that the tantric had told them to do so as her husband would not have survived if he had spent the wedding night with her, The Hindustan Times reported.

The in-laws reportedly also told her that now they would soon find a treasure buried under their house.

Blind faith in these fake tantric or holy man is very common in India and at times people don't even hesitate to put their own or other's life at stake.

The latest incident comes a few weeks after controversial spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh got convicted in a 2002 rape case.

He was accused of rape by one of his female followers, who also claimed that the guru had sexually assaulted many other women living in the organisation's sprawling campus in the northern state of Haryana.

His conviction resulted in deadly riots across the state. Supporters of the controversial guru rioted after the court's verdict, attacking railway stations, petrol stations and television vans in towns across the northern states of Punjab and Haryana.

Rape in India
Women shouting slogans and holding placards during a protest against rape in India REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee