Monday, June 15, 2009

Exorcism Case in New Zealand

Exorcism is an Act of expelling Demons (from a Person or a Place) by Ritual and Prayer. This kind of practice is quite popular among people who live in the rural parts of Indonesia.

Recently, a Court in Wellington, New Zealand, passed a Verdict last Friday which found five people guilty of Manslaughter in the death of their relative Janet Moses (22) during an Exorcism ceremony to drive Demons away from her.
According to MNBC, the family belongs to a Maori Tribe who have apparently practiced these rituals for centuries. On October 2007, nine family members of the victim, performed Exorcism on her, forcing water into her mouth and eyes to flush out Demons. Ms. Moses drowned and a 14-year-old girl the group also believed was possessed suffered serious eye injuries as people picked at the Demons they saw in them.
According to the Prosecutor, it accepted that the family believed she was possessed by Demons at the time of her death. But he said that the trial was not about an inquiry into whether Demons or spirits but it is about whether the accused are guilty of the Manslaughter of Janet Moses. What the the family thought as a Curse is a misinterpretation of an emerging mental illness, with the situation evolving into a "supernatural battle that needed to be fought" and that ended with "tragic consequences."
According to the Defendants' lawyer, Ms. Moses had wanted her family to help cure her of what she believed was demonic possession.
After 17 hours of deliberation, the 12 man Jury found three of the Defendants not guilty, and the discharged the fourth due to lack of evidence. The five Defendants who were found guilty will be sentenced on 14 August, facing up to 10 years prison sentence.

The above case shows that Exorcism ceremony can be dangerous if the parties involved cannot control themselves.

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