Tantrik arrested for raping seven, a Bangladeshi national

On November 28, Mehdi Kasim Shaikh (46) was arrested for allegedly raping six cousins for over two years, after he had convinced their mothers - three siblings - that he could prevent any possible complications during the girls' future pregnancy and childbirth, police said. Their domestic servant was also sexually assaulted by him.

Since his arrest, he was in police custody till today. The 'black magician' was today produced before a local court which remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days, police said.

"We informed the court that Mehdi is from Dhaka in Bangladesh. He came here with his parents when he was seven years old. Since then, Shaikhs had stayed in different parts of the country. The accused prepared illegal documents to represent self as an Indian," Khanderoa Patil, senior inspector at J J Marg police station, told PTI.

The accused has been now charged with relevant sections of the The Foreigners Act for staying in the country illegally, Patil said.
Shaikh had allegedly fleeced the victims' family of over Rs one crore over a period of time and stashed it in a flat he had rented in Kalyan in Thane district, police said.

After his arrest, police discovered Rs 87,30,000 in cash, and gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 13,70,000 in his Kalyan flat.