Malaysian girl dies in exorcism ritual

Athree-year-old Malaysian girl died of suffocation during a lengthy exorcism ritual in which seven family members and a maid piled on top of her, a police official said yesterday.

The ritual, which also included the child’s parents, was held by the ethnic Chinese family late on Sunday in the northern town of Bukit Mertajam, local police chief Azman Abdul Lah said.

“Acting on a tip-off, police entered the house and broke down a bedroom door only to find eight people including a foreign maid covered with a blanket and with the victim pinned under them,” he said.

“They were chanting in the room. Police believe they were involved in an exorcism ritual to drive away evil spirits.”

The newspaper said the ritual had lasted 20 hours. Azman said the ritual had continued for many hours but could not confirm how many.

The eight suspects, aged between 16 and 67, have been detained and are being investigated for murder, he added. They included the family’s Indonesian maid, the said.

The brother of the child’s father had alerted the police, Azman said.

The others detained were the victim’s grandmother, uncle, aunt, and two cousins. The group was brought to a magistrate’s court was ordered to be placed under remand until August 12.

One woman, believed to be the girl’s aunt, was seen moving her lips and swinging her hands during the court proceedings.

It is also learnt that the girl’s mother, who is three months’ pregnant, was not produced in court as she had been admitted to the Bukit Mertajam Hospital.