In a trial about a fatal exorcism by a faith healer at the Berlin Regional Court, two family members of the victim were sentenced to several years in prison on Monday. Another family member received a suspended sentence, the verdicts were for bodily harm resulting in death. The relatives and a so-called faith healer poisoned a 22-year-old woman with salt water.
Nesma M. had to drink salt water for a week. The devil was to be cast out of her, because a hodja (Turkish for Islamic teacher, mentor, imam, editor’s note) wanted to have recognised that evil spirits were responsible for Nesma’s and her husband Wajdi’s childlessness, according to the prosecution. The faith healer, who was also charged, was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of one year and six months and a payment of 1,500 euros for involuntary manslaughter.
The court considered it proven that the victim’s husband, his mother and his father, on the advice of the Islamic faith healer, had given the 22-year-old wife of the main defendant about one and a half litres of salt water a day for a week in December 2015, thus poisoning her. The so-called hodja recommended the procedure in order to exorcise a supposed devil, whom he held responsible for the couple’s childlessness.
According to the court, the woman drank the salt water voluntarily at the beginning. However, her health condition deteriorated visibly. When the woman could no longer drink on her own, her husband and his parents held her down and poured the salt water into her. The woman died after a week in hospital.The 39-year-old husband was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, his 57-year-old mother to two years and eight months in prison. The 59-year-old father was given a two-year suspended sentence. The trial had started in November last year and lasted for more than 20 trial days.
https://exxpress.at/islamischer-wunderheiler-toetete-kinderlose-frau-in-berlin/