A 30-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by a pastor and eight others in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab in an attempt to "get his body rid of the devil," according to police. The identified victim, Samuel Masih, who worked as a daily laborer, was reportedly suffering from seizures. Concerned for his health, the family of Samuel called Pastor Jacob Masih to their home on Wednesday to pray for him, police said.
As per PTI, the pastor claimed Samuel was possessed by a demon and assured his family that he could "drive the evil away" from the body of Samuel.
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However, according to Samuel's family, the pastor and his companions brutally assaulted him, resulting in his death. His family later found him lying lifeless on a cot.
Samuel's family buried him and filed a complaint against the pastor. On Saturday, police, led by Duty Magistrate Inderjit Kaur, exhumed Samuel's body for a postmortem examination.
A case has been registered against Jacob Masih, Baljit Singh Sonu, and others under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
South Korean Woman Killed By 'Soldiers Of Christ', Likely Beaten 'To Exorcise Demon Spirit'
A similar incident was reported in the Atlanta area of the USA on January 9 where a South Korean woman, who was brought to the Atlanta area by a "religious organisation" with promises of "finding God", was found as a decomposed corpse in the trunk of a car.
According to Fox News, the prosecutors stated that 33-year-old Sehee Cho was allegedly killed during a brutal initiation into the "Soldiers of Christ," a fanatic religious group led by two South Korean brothers.
Seven individuals, mostly family members, allegedly kept Cho captive in their basement for weeks, where they beat her with a belt, subjected her to ice baths, and starved her to death.
Law enforcement believed they had arrested all the "soldiers" involved after Cho's body was found in September 2023. However, fears of cult activity have deeply unsettled "The Seoul of the South," a predominantly Korean community in Gwinnett County, Georgia. A cult expert has warned that similar groups may be operating covertly across the country.
