Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese police probing the death of a woman who reportedly died after being forced to a drink a lot of water, have arrested an 81-year-old professional exorcist, her younger sister and the victim's husband.

Reports said Rie Fukuda, aged 51, was pinned down and made to swallow a large volume of water in what detectives said was an "exorcism" carried out by her husband and two elderly women.

Kosai Fukuda, 52, an associate professor at a university in the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto, was arrested alongside Eiko Noda, 81, and Keiko Kitayama, 77, police told AFP Friday.

Noda has been performing exorcisms for money for about three decades, Nippon Television reported, citing unnamed sources in the local police.

Noda and Fukuda told police that the dead woman "had been receiving exorcism for several years".

No details were given on the religion of those allegedly involved.