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    Teenager died from ‘suffocation’ in exorcism

    By Gaby Leslie | Yahoo! News – Thu, Sep 29, 2011

    A teenage girl thought by her father to have been possessed by an ‘evil spirit’ died from suffocation during an exorcism, it has been reported.

    Tomomi Maishigi’s father and a monk performed a ‘waterfall service’ on the 13-year-old where she was allegedly bound to a chair by a belt and placed face-up underneath a water pump for five minutes at a Buddhist church in Kumamoto, south Japan.

    The pair - 56-year-old monk Kazuaki Kinoshita and the girl's 50-year-old father Atsushi Maishigi - were arrested yesterday on charges of inflicting injury resulting in death.

    According to the Mainichi Daily News, her father held the girl down under the falling water while the monk chanted sutras in the early hours of 27 August.

    When the victim fell unconscious, they called an ambulance but she was later pronounced dead.

    Kumamoto Prefectural Police said the teenager died of suffocation and that she had undergone the ritual a hundred times before.

    Mr Maishigi reportedly claimed that his daughter was possessed and found the monk to perform the ritual to exorcise the demons so she could get better. But she resisted and became violent.

    “Our actions were aimed at exorcising evil spirits from her and were not physical abuse," the men were quoted as telling investigators.”

    Tomomi had suffered from mental and physical illness since she was a senior-grade primary school student, and had not attended school since April.

    A spokesperson for the Nakayamashingoshoshu's (a sect of Buddhism) main temple in Kiyama said: “The water rite is done to bring one's wishes to reality, but of course you cannot exorcise with it. We also do not instruct to bound the arms and legs when doing the ritual.”

     

    724 comments

    • Paul
      Paul  •  7 months ago
      murder
    • shona
      shona  •  8 months ago
      The girl had undergone the ritual a hundred times before since March, OMG isnt it obvoius her being possesed wasnt the problem, and how many times do you have to do something till you realise it doesnt work....disguisting
      • Some one..
        Some one.. 8 months ago
        true that
      • kenneth
        kenneth 8 months ago
        just think, the british and americans are doing this all over the world, in the fight against "terrorism" so what's the difference? oh that's right, they were buddhists.
      • Hugh
        Hugh 8 months ago
        Keep killing the terrorists and they'll keep killing us.
    • Eleanor J
      Eleanor J  •  8 months ago
      So the poor girl "suffered from Mental and Physical illness since senior grade primary school"..... Is it any wonder with a parent like that..???.
      • L
        L 8 months ago
        This is Japan, where school bullying has caused fatalities. Very likely the poor girl could be subject to incessant bullying until she suffered withdrawal symptoms and not going to school anymore. Her stupid father failed to realise that
    • priestess
      priestess  •  8 months ago
      This is a very disturbing case of child abuse. If the ritual had happend many times before who else was involved? Sickos hiding behind a supposed peaceful religion.
      • steve
        steve 8 months ago
        all religions are sick
      • Madness
        Madness 8 months ago
        All. All promote delusion, false belief. That is so close to mental illness that it makes no difference
      • Heather
        Heather 8 months ago
        "All religions" do not promote "delusion and false belief". Christianity is a way of life as much as a "religion", and there is no falseness in it if the Bible teachings are followed - Jesus is our example of how to live a life that reflects God's ways. There will always be some who call themselves Christian who do not act in this way, but those of us who truly believe are not deluded in any way. Please look at the full beliefs before criticising us.
    • philip
      philip  •  8 months ago
      I thought water boarding was torture, obviously not when religion is involved.
    • Kronos Kraken
      Kronos Kraken  •  8 months ago
      "But she resisted and became violent." What the hell with his comment? Any person will resist and become violent if they are to be bound to a chair by a belt and placed face-up underneath a water pump for five minutes. Now who is possessed by an ‘evil spirit’? I think the father and the monk are the one possessed by an ‘evil spirit’ . ....
    • Ben B
      Ben B  •  8 months ago
      errrrr...i believe thats called torture and murder, no?
    • caz
      caz  •  7 months ago
      this is for mike,,no,noone has ever seen god,but noone has ever seen the wind either but it exists,,,,and so does strange cults.
    • kate
      kate  •  8 months ago
      This is terrible! its laughable how ignorant people can be in 2011! 'mentally and physically ill' i think this should be the terms used for the father and the monk - disgusting!
    • sam s
      sam s  •  8 months ago
      The poor child, how can anyone be so cruel and misgiuded to do anything like that. Hope her soul finds peace RIP
      • Jonny
        Jonny 8 months ago
        She doesn't have a soul and neither do you. Moronic uneducated views like that is what caused this whole fiasco.
      • Alex
        Alex 8 months ago
        Souls do not exist; Fact. Where is the proof of such?
    • Michelle
      Michelle  •  8 months ago
      good greif
      • Kenneth
        Kenneth 8 months ago
        Charlie Brown did you get a sex change?
    • emmanuel
      emmanuel  •  8 months ago
      Omg, what a pathetic story. The rituals was not an attempt to drive away any evil spirit from her but an attempt to cure a mental problem. It just show some folks are still shallow in their thinkingn in this 21st century. You can never cure a mental illnes through that method.
    • Susee
      Susee  •  8 months ago
      What kind of outrageous Buddhist sect is this, which could not advise on mental illness as opposed to the notion of possession of a human being by an 'evil spirit'. How tragic!
    • RogerMC
      RogerMC  •  8 months ago
      I wouldn't say religion is nonsense but it most certainly is not for me in any form. I'm a happy and content athiset through and through.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  8 months ago
      oh my.. how heartbreaking. Rest in Peace lovely.
    • david
      david  •  7 months ago
      If she had undergone the ritual 100 times before it obviously didn't work. 101st time lucky?
    • Datin Gosok
      Datin Gosok  •  7 months ago
      The main picture used for this article is misleading. The picture posted is showing a tibetan monk. Can the writer who is responsible for this article be more sensitive in choosing cover picture? its disturbing and can cause misunderstanding. Please be more sensitive and responsible....
    • lucia
      lucia  •  8 months ago
      The stigma of mental illness and religous fever make a tragic combination
    • T
      T  •  8 months ago
      child abuse
    • J.
      J.  •  7 months ago
      Somehow they missed the point of Buddhism.
     Post a comment
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