Egypt: Woman beaten to death by 'spiritual healers'

Dubai: An Egyptian woman died after she was severely beaten by two alleged spiritual healers seeking to exorcise a jinni from her body, local media said.

The victim’s husband said his 54-year-old wife suffered from hallucinations and was psychologically unwell for some time.

“I took her to psychiatrists several times but to no avail,” he said.

“Some people advised us to take her to a spiritualist healer who has skills to kick the jinn out of her body, believing she was touched by an evil spirit.”

Police in Marsa Matrouh arrested the killers after the victim’s husband reported that they tied his wife’s legs and arms and used a stick to beat her to expel the jinn from her body.

“The husband said people told me that my wife was under the grip of a jinn and that was why I took her to a spiritual healer,” the husband said as quoted by local newspapers.

Upon investigations, the husband said: “During the alleged spiritual therapy session, the two charlatans tied my wife’s legs and arms before starting to beat her using ropes, wires and a stick. They claimed it was the only way to exorcise the jinn from her body.”

He told police that his wife was tortured for an hour until she lost consciousness. “The charlatans left the room and told me my wife was asleep, and she would be okay when she wakes up in a short while.”

The victim, who was left severely ill, unconscious and bleeding, was taken by her husband to the nearest hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after.

Police arrested the suspects and referred them to public prosecution for further investigation and trial.