Exorcism claims a woman’s life in Kerala, one of India’s most literate states

The rituals always used to begin by midnight. Limiting food to the victim, physically torturing her and “casting spells” on her were part of the exorcism.

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Keerthi Prakasam| The News Minute| July 17, 2014| 3.10 pm IST

Hasina was 26 years old when she died last Monday, succumbing to injuries inflicted by a two-week-long exorcism ritual filled with torture and inhumane practices.

Hasina lived in a hamlet in Kerala’s Karunagapally. Police say Hasina was mentally ill, and all that she would have required is good medical attention. But her parents who believed that an “evil spirit was possessing” her body, took Hasina to an exorcist named Sirajuddin.

Sirajuddin’s two week ritual to exorcise the "ghost" in Hasina’s body eventually killed her.

His rituals always used to begin by midnight. Limiting food to the victim, physically torturing her and “casting spells” on her were part of the exorcism. Police say the victim resisted the torture at first, but eventually became too weak to fight. According to the autopsy report, Hasina suffered from internal bleeding and a broken backbone, as a result of her long ordeal with the exorcist.

The police on Wednesday took Hasina’s father Hassan and Sirajuddin’s aide Kabir into custody. The father was arrested for engaging an exorcist and subjecting his daughter to torture.

But the main accused, Sirajuddin has still not been arrested, police suspect that he may try to get out of the state.

Speaking to The News Minute, Deva Manohar, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Karungapally who is leading the investigation says that necessary arrangements are being made to prevent Sirajuddin from fleeing the state.

When asked if these practices are common in the area he says “Yes, the practice is as common as it is anywhere. But an instance like this has not happened so far. This is the first such case that was reported and until people register a complaint about such activities we cannot interfere”.

Jaya Prameela, high school teacher who lives in Karunagapally says that even in the school, students do speak about less serious instances of black magic.

“Usually when someone is sick or suffers from personal problems some people do resort to black magic. For illness the seers sometimes give “holy water” or sprinkle it on the victim etc, this is especially rampant in some Muslim dominated areas. But nothing as tragic as this has happened, this case was a shock for many of us”, she says.

