KARACHI: Police in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Tuesday they had arrested a faith healer after a woman died following an “exorcism” ritual.
The incident took place in district Badin’s Khuda Bux Hisbani village where police said they found the body of Shrimati Sangeeta, 30, in her house on Jan. 27 after receiving a complaint from the deceased’s father.
Preliminary investigation into the episode revealed that a spiritual healer named Harisingh Kolhi and his two followers, Walji Kolhi and Bahawal Kolhi, had tortured Sangeeta for three days with sticks, claiming that she was possessed. The woman ultimately died from the injuries from the beating.
Police said they recovered a sheet and bed with blood stains on them after arresting the spiritual healer while they were trying to arrest his two disciples who had escaped.
“During the investigation it also surfaced that torture was made with the consent of deceased Sangeeta’s husband, namely Harish Kolhi, and relatives namely Bachoo s/o Veersi Kolhi and Saveeta d/o Bachoo Kolhi, who have also been taken in police custody,” a copy of the police report seen by Arab News said.
Faith healers are relatively common in some parts of Pakistan, though their activities are banned in many schools of Islam.
A large part of the population of Pakistan is illiterate and poor and medical treatment can be costly, forcing people to turn to faith healers to cure diseases and mental disorders.
In 2022, such practices were in the spotlight after a faith healer allegedly hammered a nail into a pregnant woman’s head saying he could guarantee she gave birth to a baby boy.
In some poorer South Asian countries, a son is often believed to offer better long-term financial security to parents than daughters do, and this gives rise to exploitative practices, often from so-called faith healers.
