Exorcism gone wrong.. Infant dies

from Conqueror of Uranus - Tuesday, March 16, 2004
accessed 1263 times

Satan becomes the scapegoat for human ignorance/incompetence again

Couple fatally batters baby to "exorcise evil spirits".

OSAKA -- A baby died after his mother and her partner apparently battered him until he was unconscious to "exorcise evil spirits," police said Tuesday.

Police arrested the 22-month-old baby's mother, Kotomi Manda, 24, and her live-in boyfriend Masahiko Shibata, 20, on charges of inflicting bodily injuries resulting in death.

Manda, of Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, was quoted by investigators as saying that she battered the baby, who has suffered brain damage and died late Tuesday night, to "exorcise evil spirits" from his body, while Shibata reportedly said that he also attacked the baby to "make him sit properly."

Police said Manda and Shibata repeatedly punched the baby's legs and the back from Friday to Saturday. Manda is also accused of burning her second daughter's back with a lit cigarette around March 10.

Shibata reportedly realized the baby had fallen unconscious on Sunday evening and brought him to hospital. Paramedics who took the baby to the emergency room found bruises on his body and reported the matter to police. Investigators found the injured girl when they searched the couple's home.

Manda is separated from her husband and had been living with Shibata with her three children since the beginning of this month, police said.

Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, March 16, 2004)