Myanmar ‘exorcist’ in court over deaths of three children

YANGON: A self-proclaimed sorcerer who allegedly beat three children to death in an exorcism ritual appeared in a Yangon court yesterday, telling reporters he was possessed by a “dark spirit” at the time of the killings.

Police say the black magic practitioner, Tun Naing, punched and kicked two toddlers and an eight-month-old baby to death last month in a tiny village outside Myanmar’s commercial capital.

According to witnesses he told villagers the children were possessed by evil sprits and then killed them over two days as their families watched.

Speaking as police led him away from the court hearing, Tun Naing told reporters he had been possessed when he attacked the children.

“I did it because I lost control of my mind at that time as the dark spirit took over me,” he said.

The uncle of the dead boy, also named Tun Naing, said the villagers lost their senses after he fed them “blessed” water and made them stand in a circle as he recited incantations.

“Because of what he did everyone was out of their mind,” he told AFP reporters who visited him in Twante, south of Yangon several days after the killings.

A police report on the incident said the bodies of the children — a three-year-old boy, two-year-old girl and a baby — showed evidence of being punched, kicked and stamped on. — AFP