A 19-year-old woman was found half-naked and gagged, with her hands and feet tied, behind the pulpit at an Aizawl church at 6.30 am on Wednesday.

Members of the congregation, who were making preparations for the service after the early morning prayer at the Bethlehem Veng Presbyterian Church, found the woman.

The congregation members untied her, but she refused to give details of what had happened. The only thing she said was that a man and woman whom she did not know tied her up and left her there.

She also said she wanted to see another woman, with whose family she had been staying for about a month in the locality. An eyewitness said the woman and her father then came to identify her.

Police suspect the woman belonged to a cult and was being taken care of by the family for the past month.

Police later took the woman for questioning. They have also registered a case under IPC section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).

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