BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman lost more than 5,000 euros ($6,000) after a would-be soothsayer convinced her she was possessed by evil spirits and prescribed an expensive exorcism as a remedy, authorities said Wednesday.

Police in the central town of Northeim said the 44-year-old was told she was possessed by a young woman who read her palm at a Christmas market.

The victim became agitated and agreed to an exorcism at her home the following day, for which she paid the ’seer’ more than 5,000 euros in cash and jewelry.

The exorcist then gave her more bad news — there were other spirits that needed casting out.

“That’s when a bad feeling crept over the victim,” the police said in a statement. “She informed the police forthwith.”

Police have arrested a 17-year-old woman from former Yugoslavia. The victim’s money and jewelry have been returned.

[via Reuters]

A woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing a friend during an exorcism ritual, police said Thursday.

Justice Claudette Singh imposed the sentence late Wednesday, saying Patricia Alvez, 42, had been convicted “of a shocking crime which claimed the life of a woman she befriended.”

A 12-member jury convicted Alvez of manslaughter last week for killing Kamille Seenauth, 34, on Feb. 15, 2002. She allegedly beat Seenauth with an iron bar in an attempt to drive evil spirits out of her.

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A Chatsworth policeman has been implicated in the killing of a young woman, who was whipped to death in an eight-hour exorcism ritual.

The family of 20-year-old Farhana Khan on Monday told the Daily News a policeman was one of the spiritual leaders who had conducted the exorcism. They say the policeman is based at Chatsworth.

Inspector Collin Chetty of the Bayview police confirmed that a policeman had been questioned about 20-year-old Khan’s death.

He said their detectives were also questioning witnesses and family members, but no arrests had been made.

“If we find the policeman played a part in the girl’s murder, he will be arrested,” said Chetty.

[continue story…]

An exorcism carried out by spiritual healers last week went horribly wrong when a 20-year-old Chatsworth woman died after the procedure.

Farhana Essop’s family claims that she went through an eight-hour whipping ordeal when two spiritual healers attempted to remove “evil spirits” from her.

[continue story…]

Mexico City, Aug. 30 (CNA/CWNews.com) - At the recent National Congress of Exorcists held at the headquarters of the Mexican bishops’ conference, organizers revealed that up to five exorcisms per day are taking place in the country.

The number of daily exorcisms has been climbing since the 1960s, according to researchers. In the central Federal District of Mexico alone there are eight priests authorized by the Holy See to perform exorcisms in order to expel demons in the name of Jesus according to the rites and norms of the Catholic Church.

One these priests is Father Pedro Mendoza, who noted that there is one exorcist “per vicariate (of the archdiocese) and we have four or five cases every day. We have a day of prayer for liberation with about 30 or 40 people.” He added: “It’s a special liturgy with special prayers of the Church which must be followed by the exorcist, almost like the celebration of a sacrament.”

Another priest, Father Abel Lopez, said that when a person is possessed by the devil, it becomes apparent in his way of behaving and speaking, as the person’s tone of voice tends to be more aggressive. Nevertheless, several scientific specialists are needed in order to determine if a person is possessed. “So the bishop has to send psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors to give a diagnosis and to decide whether or not the person is possessed,” Father Lopez stated.

[see story]

Former Bracknell Town Mayor Jennie McCraken was harassed by the ghost for the first year of living at their former Binfield house.

She eventually turned to family friend Terry Walters - an amateur exorcist - to rid them of the spooky serpent.

And the wife of leading Bracknell Forest Borough councillor Iain McCracken added that the experience turned her into a firm believer in the paranormal.

She said: “I was open-minded about it before, having never seen a ghost, but after this experience I am definitely not sceptical any more.

[see story]

Kolkata: Steeped in superstition, a farmer in a West Bengal village resorted to exorcism to cure his ailing daughter but the black magic rituals only ended up killing her.

Ashok Bag of Ranghat village in North 24 Parganas district adjoining Kolkata beat his seven-year-old sick daughter with a broomstick believing she was possessed, police said Wednesday.

The girl was earlier taken to an exorcist and subjected to some bizarre rituals that worsened her condition. Bag then brought her back to home and carried out the act of exorcism himself.

The girl had high fever and succumbed to the collective onslaught by the exorcist and her father Tuesday.

[see story, source 2]

Manila, Philippines - Lawmakers have joined the growing clamor for the House ethics committee to probe the involvement of some of their colleagues in the exorcism rite at the start of the impeachment hearings, even as they expressed belief that Fr. Robert Reyes should be censured by the Church for conducting the ceremony.

Reps. Mauricio Domogan (Lakas,Baguio City) and Douglas Cagas (NPC,Davao del Sur) said the rites implied a cleansing of the House of evil spirits, which is totally absurd and unfair for its members.

The solons said those involved in the rites have also undermined the sense of discernment of House members in acting on the impeachment complaint now being heard by the committee on justice.

Domogan and Cagas have joined Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin, who earlier urged the House ethics committee to look into House members who were involved in the exorcism rite on Tuesday for what he said was an abuse of the ancient Catholic rite. Locsin said the rite was a mockery of religious belief and “institutional honor essential to the House.” Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said the matter should be looked into by the House.

[see the full story]

A Medford man was committed to the state psychiatric hospital Thursday for stabbing, spray-painting and setting fire to his pet kitten.

…

In an attempt to exorcise a gray, 10-week-old kitten named Cosmo, McCray stabbed it multiple times with a small knife that folds into a cross-shaped pendant, said Sarita Glassburner, deputy district attorney for Jackson County. He then sprayed it with olive drab paint and lit its head on fire. McCray thought the cat contained “Indian spirits,” the prosecutor added.

[see story]

A court has freed a monk and four nuns who are charged with killing a nun last month during an exorcism ritual, authorities in Romania said today.

The Appeals Court in Bucharest refused to extend arrest warrants against the suspects and ordered them to be freed, the court said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate, but news television N24 reported that appeals judges cited procedural errors by a lower court. The five were freed from a Bucharest jail late yesterday. Today they were questioned by interrogators in the capital.

[see Ireland On-Line]

Mr Poussaint sees nothing wrong with what he does. It is, he insists, work that has to be carried out.

“If the child is not exorcised then it will grow up to be horrible. I get results,” said the 75-year-old, who is originally from Benin in West Africa.

[via The Telegraph]

This is the first I’ve personally heard of “exorcism” outside of the Christian & Catholic realm (in this case Voodoo), but I guess that shouldn’t come as a shock since during the slave days Catholic beliefs were melded with ancient voodoo (more of a disguise…Wikipedia has more background info if you’re curious).

Media fascination with the ‘exorcism scandal’ continued last week, however, reaching an almost hysterical pitch and leaving one police officer feeling he was ‘in the middle of a medieval witch-hunt’. Others wondered whether they were edging towards ‘another Orkneys’ - an alleged child abuse scandal on the islands that never was.

[via The Guardian]