A nine-year-old girl in Sri Lanka was beaten to death during a ritual to exorcise demons. The woman performing the exorcism was arrested along with the child's mother and brought to trial, according to the New Straits Times.
“The child died after being beaten. The girl died on her way to the hospital, ”said police spokesman Ajit Rohan. According to law enforcement agencies, the girl's parents took her to a village near the country's capital, Colombo. The exorcist repeatedly hit the child with a stick as part of the ritual. The neighbors, who heard the screams, called the police, but it was too late.
According to the publication, Sri Lankans often turn to various charlatans, self-proclaimed sorcerers and exorcists for help. The recent scandal is particularly revealing: in January, Minister of Health Pavitra Vanniaracici publicly accepted a syrup made by a self-proclaimed “chosen one”. The liquid was supposed to give her immunity from COVID-19 for the rest of her life, but as a result, the woman, on the contrary, caught the coronavirus and ended up in intensive care.
