Saharanpur (UP), May 24 (IANS): Body of an eight-months pregnant woman was exhumed in Saharanpur and her husband was arrested on charges of killing her.

According to police reports, the victim was found dead nine days ago at a mosque under mysterious circumstances.

The accused, identified as Usman Hussain, the Imam of a mosque in Qutubsher region, told the police that he came to know that his wife was carrying a female foetus using his tantric rituals.

He said he had tried to convince his wife to undergo an abortion, but she refused after which he hatched a conspiracy to kill her.

The victim's mother became suspicious and filed a complaint at Saharanpur police station in Qutubsher region against the accused on May 20.

The complainant had approached SSP Akash Tomar and district magistrate Akhilesh Singh and alleged that Usman and his associates had killed her daughter using tantric rituals and demanded that her body be exhumed for a detailed post-mortem report.

Following the complaint, the police launched an investigation and exhumed the body and sent it for a post-mortem examination.

The accused confessed to performing tantric rituals and on May 12, he took his wife to the balcony and pushed her down while performing some 'tantric rituals'. After killing her, Hussain burried the body in a graveyard.

Saharanpur SP, Rajesh Kumar, said: "We arrested the accused from a hospital based on his mother-in-law's complaint.