55-year-old beaten to death in ritual performed to drive away evil spirits

BENGALURU: A 55-year-old woman died after she was brutally beaten to death in the ritual performed to drive away evil spirits. The incident happened on July 6 at Shivamogga in Karnataka. She has been identified as Geethamma. A murder case has been registered against three including her son Sanjay.

Believing that Geethamma was possessed by an evil spirit, her son brought a woman named Asha, who practices exorcism, to his house. Asha and her husband Santhosh then started the ritual at 9.30 pm on July 6 to drive away the evil spirits. As part of the ritual, she was beaten with a cane for four and a half hours. Geethamma, who was seriously injured in the caning, died on July 7. She is survived by three children. The visuals of the incident are being circulated on social media. Soon, Sanjay, Asha and Santhosh were arrested.

Meantime, in Bihar, five members of a family, including three women, were burnt to death in Bihar’s Purnia district on suspicion of practicing witchcraft. A mob, armed with bamboo sticks, barged into the house of Sita Devi and accused her of practicing black magic. The woman's son, 16-year-old Sonu Kumar, who managed to escape, said the members of the mob began thrashing everyone who was at home.

All five, including Sonu's parents, were set ablaze by the mob and their bodies were hidden under water hyacinth.