Police in India's Madhya Pradesh state in northern India are currently investigating the beating deaths of a a 26-year-old homoeopath and his three-year son during the course of a supposed exorcism. According to a media statement, police were alerted when a badly-injured Rajaram Karadi was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead shortly afterward. Acting on information, police proceeded to Karadi's home where they tried to enter the home for half an hour before finally breaking down a door with the help of neighbours. There, they found a 19-year-old girl sitting on a three-year-old child and beating him with utensils "in a frenzy". Though police came to the aid of the child and attempted to revive him, he was already dead at the scene. The girl, identified only as "Mamta" was arrested along with her mother Anita, Rajaram Karadi's sister, who had been watching as she beat the child to death.
“Anita and her daughter Mamta believed they were possessed by good spirits and that Rajaram and his son, Adarsh, were possessed by evil spirits," said District Police Superintendent Gaurav Tiwari in a media statement. "They tried to ward them off," Rajaram's mother and wife were also in the house at the time and had been locked into another room. Both had been beaten and the mother, Thavri Bai, is still listed in critical condition. "The accused forcibly put a coin in Rajaram's wife's mouth, owing to which she was unable to speak. A surgery was performed at government hospital, after which she is out of danger. Rajaram's mother Thavri Bai too is stated out of danger now," Tiwari said.
The exorcism apparently began on Friday night when Anita locked Rajaram and his son into a room with her and her daughter to begin rituals to cast out evil spirits. They then began beating their victims with utensils although family members who had been gathered outside for a family wedding were reportedly unaware of what was happening until after Rajaram's collapse.
Along with Anita and her daughter, police have also charged two of Rajaram's nephews and another family with murder and attempted murder.
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