Chandigarh. A priest and eight other persons allegedly beat a 30-year-old man to death in the name of exorcising him from evil spirits in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. Police said Samuel Masih, a resident of Singhpura village of Dhariwal in Gurdaspur, used to suffer from seizures and kept screaming.
Police said that Samuel’s family had called local pastor Jacob Masih to their home on Wednesday to pray for him. According to police, the pastor told the family that he was possessed by a demon. After this, the pastor and eight other people started beating him and told the family that doing so would force the demon to run out of his body.
Police said that daily wage labourer Samuel was beaten so badly that he died on the spot. After this, the family buried him the next day. Two days after the incident, Samuel’s mother and wife lodged a complaint against the priest. Police said that Samuel’s body was taken out for post-mortem on Saturday. The entire process was done under the supervision of Duty Magistrate Indrajit Kaur. Police said that a case has been registered against the priest and eight others under the relevant sections of the Indian Justice Code.