The children’s mother was reportedly locked in a room during the ordeal. © Saikat Paul / Global Look Press via ZUMA Press
By Dr. Romeo Vitelli / 03.21.2017
Psychologist
While their mother was kept locked in a room, two children were electrocuted by their father and grandfather in a bizarre exorcism. The grandmother reportedly convinced her son to carry out the exorcism due to her reputation for having “divine powers” and to cleanse the children of “evil spirits.” Police in northern India have arrested Nirmal Kaur and her son Kulwinder Singh after officers discovered the bodies of the two children.
According to police, Kaur had convinced her son to carry out the exorcism which involved beatings and electric shocks. When the mother of the children objected, she was locked in a room and neighbours ignored her screams for help for two days out of fear of Kaur’s powers. Singh’s five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter were believed to be possessed by ghosts or demons and subjected to repeated beatings and electric shocks. On March 8, after previous rituals had failed to drive out the demons, Kaur and Singh increased the voltage and killed both children. Neighbours were finally alerted by the screams of the children and their mother and notified police.
In questioning Kulwinder Singh afterward, police learned that his mother had brainwashed him into believing that nothing could go wrong with the exorcism. He was also led to believe that his mother would bring the children back to life if they were killed.
This is the second fatality involving children killed in magical ceremonies in a week. Earlier, the body of a ten year-old girl in India’s Karnatka state was found on the outskirts of the village where she had been living. Ayesha Mohammed Nurulla had apparently been sacrificed in a black magic ritual intended to cure her cousin of paralysis. Believing the paralysis to be due to evil spirits, members of the cousin’s family kidnapped Ayesha from her home and cut her throat as part of the occult ritual. Four people have been charged, including the brother of the paralysed man.