A woman dies in New Zealand following days of torture.
The Maori people call it a makutu. It's supposedly a rite of exorcism designed to lift a curse placed upon a person or home. In October 2007, members of a family living in Wainuiomata, a suburb close to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand's south island, became convinced that one of their number had incurred a curse. The "victim" was Janet Moses (see pic), a 22-year-old mother of two.
Why did they think this? Some weeks before, Janet, together with a 14-year-old cousin had stolen a statue of a lion from outside a local pub. The family believed that the statue was a taonga, a treasured object of great importance to Maori culture. The theft had brought a curse on the whole family.
According to police reports, about forty whānau (or extended family members) convened at the little apartment owned by Janet's grandparents. Janet and her cousin were to be "exorcised" by five of the clan. The ceremony of makutu began and it was to last several days.
Janet was subjected to torture, culminating in copious quantities of water being poured into her eyes and down her throat. Family members stood in a circle around the victim, chanting "go with peace and love" while a 52-year-old female cousin sat on her belly and poured water into her mouth and eyes. It was believed that her "demons" could be expelled through the eye sockets and throat. She died of drowning.
Her 14-year-old "accomplice" was forced to look on as Janet died struggling for breath. Then it was her turn. She was held down by four of the "exorcists" while a fifth repeated Janet's torture. The girl passed out several times.
She survived, but barely. At sometime during the ritual somebody had scratched and gouged her eyes. She was eventually taken to hospital with blood oozing from the sockets.
The case came to trial in Wellington last week. The five torturers were convicted of Janet's manslaughter and of causing grievous bodily harm to a minor. Their punishment, however, was unusually lenient: each received a community-based sentence. This prompted Trevor Mallard, the MP for the area where the killing took place, to suggest a racial motive behind the leniency.
"I think there is a lot of sympathy for the individuals involved," he told Radio New Zealand News. "They did get caught up in some sort of hysteria. They were sleep-deprived.
"But there's just not an acceptance either from the vast majority of Maori ... that you can effectively torture someone ... causing death and there not be a jail sentence."
The tragedy is yet another example of what can happen when inexperienced lay people attempt an exorcism. Two children are left motherless and a young girl is perhaps traumatized for life. I cannot say it often enough: leave exorcism to the real exorcists.
