Man thrashed to death by pastor 'to get him rid of devil' in Punjab

Chandigarh: A 30-year-old man was thrashed to death in Punjab's Gurdaspur district allegedly by a pastor and eight others in an attempt "to get his body rid of the devil".

Samuel Masih, a resident of Singhpura village in Dhariwal in Gurdaspur, was suffering from seizures and used to scream, police said.

His family invited a local pastor identified as Jacob Masih to their home to hold a prayer for Samuel on Wednesday, they said.

The pastor told the family that he was possessed by the devil. Following this, the pastor along with eight others started beating him up, telling his family that it would "force the devil away" from his body, they added.

He assured the family that nothing would happen to Masih, police said.

Samuel, a daily wager, was badly beaten and died on the spot. The family buried him the next day, police said.

Two days after the incident, Samuel's mother and his wife filed a complaint against the pastor.

Samuel's body was exhumed for a post-mortem examination on Saturday. The entire exercise was conducted under the supervision of duty magistrate Inderjit Kaur, police said.

A case has been registered against the pastor and eight others under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police added.