‘Exorcising demon’, pastor, others beat man to death

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 25

A middle-aged man was beaten to death by a pastor and his associates in the name of “exorcising the ghost that had entered his body and soul”.

The incident has sent shock waves in the region even as people living in Singhpura, where the crime took place, and its adjoining villages were petrified at the turn of events. Even 72 hours after the gruesome occurrence, people were unwilling to utter even a single word about what happened.

Singhpura village falls in the jurisdiction of the Dhariwal police station.

The incident took place on the intervening night of August 21 and 22. The villagers initially tried to keep the incident under wraps but somehow word leaked.

Rakha Masih, the mother of deceased Samuel Masih, called a pastor to her residence after she claimed “her son had developed some unusual complications and was not getting well despite the family’s best efforts”.

Pastor Jacob Masih arrived at the scene with his accomplice Baljit Singh. He immediately started beating up Samuel saying that a “ghost had taken possession of the man’s body and soul and it would exit only if he was kicked and beaten up”.

When things threatened to go out of hand, Samuel’s mother, Rakha Masih, tried to intervene but Jacob and Baljit paid no heed to her repeated pleas.

Police officers said Samuel kept on begging for mercy and the more he would beg, the more he would be beaten up. When Jacob sensed that Samuel was not reacting to their kicks and punches, he called more of his accomplices.

Eight more men appeared on the scene within no time and Samuel was again subjected to the horrifying treatment. Finally, he succumbed and his body was placed on a cot. His relatives gave him a quiet burial in the village cremation ground. “Everybody was told that word should not spread about what had happened,” said an officer involved in the investigation.

Dhariwal DSP Kulwant Singh said: “The moment Jacob got to know Samuel had died, he and his accomplices made good their escape.”

There was complete silence about what happened to Samuel in the village. The cops got to know about the incident yesterday, following which Samuel’s body was exhumed in the presence of Tehsildar-cum-duty magistrate Inderjit Kaur. The body was sent for a post-mortem at the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital after which it was again buried.

DSP Kulwant Singh added that a team had been formed which was investigating the sequence of events leading to the death of Samuel. A case has been registered at the Dhariwal Police station.

‘Taking money in name of healing sick’

Senior police officers said groups of Christian pastors roam around villages between 8pm and 11pm everyday looking for people who are sick. “We have reports that they take money in the name of healing the sick. We often encounter such groups when we are on night duty or when we set up check-posts as part of night patrolling,” he added.