Mentally ill Palestinian teen beaten to death in ‘exorcism’
Two 'healers' hired to banish 'evil spirits' arrested, as well as victim's father and brother
A young Palestinian man died on Tuesday after being badly beaten in an “exorcism,” medical and police sources in the West Bank town of Hebron said.
The family of the 19-year-old with psychological problems had called in two “healers,” a man and a woman, who beat the young man to drive out evil “spirits,” Palestinian police sources said.
He was critically injured and taken to a hospital in Hebron where he died, police and medics said.
The pair who administered the beating were arrested, as were the victim’s father and brother.
According to a report in Al-Monitor, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl died during an exorcism in February 2014, after a “healer” forced a saltwater mixture down her throat.
Other reported incidents of exorcism resulted in the deaths of two Palestinian women with psychological problems in 2011 and 1998.