A young woman was allegedly drowned in a river by her husband after she refused to have sex with a tantrik (occultist), police said on Saturday. The womans husband Manpal and the occultist Sant Durga Das have been nabbed by the police.

According to SSP Aligarh, Akash Kulhari, the incident took place on Thursday and the 32-year-old woman's teenage son was a witness to the crime. The son screamed for help when his father was drowning his mother. But the father warned the son that he would meet the same fate as his mother if he called for help.

The woman's brother Rajesh Kumar, in a complaint to the Dadon police station, said his panic-stricken sister had called him two days ago, urging him to intervene.

Initially, the matter appeared to have been resolved amicably but on Thursday the events took another twist when Manpal persuaded her wife to accompany him to a nearby river and pushed her into it.

After executing the plan, Manpal and the occultist, who has a criminal record, swam across the river, fleeing to neighbouring Badaun district.

The police have recovered the body of the woman and further investigations are underway.IANS