Young woman held captive in Beira, Mozambique, for alleged ‘evil spirits’

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Young woman held captive in Beira, Mozambique, for alleged ‘evil spirits’

6:11 CAT | 07 Nov 2017

Five individuals, four members of the same church, allegedly imprisoned a 24-year-old woman for 20 days in Beira, Sofala province, in order to cure her of evil spirits. The fifth citizen is the husband of the victim. All five are now in police custody.

The accused, arrested last week on Monday (October 30), are Fernando Paulo (aged 19), Alves Samuel (20), Buramuge Furruma (21) and Timoteo Fandique (30). They are all members of the Jesus Liberta Ministry congregation in Muave, Inhamizua administrative post, Beira city.

According to the police, the jailed woman suffers from a mental disorder which her husband and the church faithful interpret as an evil spirit that must be exorcised. Not only was the woman locked up in the church, but her arms and legs were tied, allegedly because she broke everything within reach when in the grip of a psychological crisis.

The victim’s husband, Fernando Alface, said that when his wife began to manifest the episodes, which he considered mental illness, the pair decided to go to a traditional doctor, who said that the girl was under the influence of a spirit who was demanding that she become a healer, and had to be treated accordingly.

Someone else however told the couple that the church could be a solution, and that it would be enough to approach and remain close enough to receive the word of God and be cured.

Because the young woman rejected the treatment proposed by the healer, the couple started attending the ‘Ministério Jesus Liberta’ church suggested by the same people supposedly knowledgeable in the institution’s procedures and achievements on spiritual purification.

Source: A Verdade