Bolivian police arrested a pastor of one of the Evangelical communities of the city of Cochabamba and his sister on suspicion of killing another relative, a younger sister, while performing an exorcism ritual on a girl
The suspects - Carlos Uriona and Adelaide Marka - were taken into custody after police found the corpse of an 18-year-old girl in one of the pastor's warehouses.
Law enforcement spokesman Cochabamba said the man and woman accused of the murder believed the sister was "possessed by a demon." Then they performed a ritual over her of "driving out unclean spirits", and wanted to baptize her in the bathroom, but the "demoniac" drowned, the police said.
Adelaide Marka told investigators that she “clearly felt the presence of an evil force in her sister” while performing the “casting out demons” ritual in the bathroom.
“I felt how an evil invisible creature affects me, how it fetters my hands and starts to drown my sister,” the suspect admitted. "I'm sure there was a devil in the bathroom."
Police said the suspects were likely to undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to the start of the trial.
