Reports indicate that a teenage girl, believed by her father to be possessed by an ‘evil spirit,’ suffocated during an exorcism.
The 13-year-old, Tomomi Maishigi, was subjected to a ‘waterfall service’ at a Buddhist church in Kumamoto, southern Japan, where her father and a monk allegedly restrained her to a chair with a belt and positioned her face-up beneath a water pump for five minutes.
The father, 50-year-old Atsushi Maishigi, and 56-year-old monk Kazuaki Kinoshita were arrested yesterday on suspicion of causing injury leading to death.
As reported by the Mainichi Daily News, the father held the girl under the descending water while the monk recited sutras.
After she lost consciousness, they called for an ambulance, but she was declared dead later.
According to the Kumamoto Prefectural Police, the cause of death was suffocation, and it was noted that she had participated in the ritual approximately one hundred times before.
Mr. Maishigi allegedly stated that he believed his daughter was possessed and sought out the monk to carry out the exorcism to help her recover. However, she reportedly resisted and became violent.
“Our intention was to exorcise evil spirits from her, not to abuse her physically,” the two were reported to have told investigators.
Since she was a senior-grade primary school student, Tomomi had been struggling with mental and physical health issues and had not attended school since April.
A spokesperson from the Nakayamashingoshoshu main temple in Kiyama commented, “The water rite is intended to manifest one’s wishes, but it cannot be used for exorcism. Additionally, we do not advise binding the arms and legs during the ritual.”
