The Madurankuliya police in the Puttalam district has launched an investigation on the death of a woman who attended a healing service to exorcise a demon whom she said was tormenting her.
The service was held at a prayer centre, called the Baba Mama’s Palliya (church) in Mukkuthoduwawa, Madurankuliya. The police said the JMO had returned an open verdict on the death.
The deceased, Kalumarakkalage Renuka Indrakanthi (58) of Mundalama Wilpotha, had been in a depressed state since returning home from Dubai two weeks ago. She had worked for over 35 years in various Middle Eastern countries, with Dubai being her last place of employment.
When her two daughters noticed their mother’s disturbed mental state and inquired about it, Indrakanthi said that a demon had entered her body while she was working in a Middle Eastern country and tormented her.
Fearing that their mother might be suffering from a mental disorder, the daughters suggested that she see a psychiatrist. However, Indrakanthi declined it and repeatedly asked if there was any place where an exorcism could be done to rid her of the demon tormenting her. After hearing about a prayer centre called Baba Mama’s Palliya (church) in Mukkuthoduwawa, renowned for healing patients suffering from such abnormalities through its pastor, Indrakanthi’s daughters and relatives decided to take her there to exorcise the evil spirit believed to possess her. The prayer centre reportedly provided several bottles of ‘blessed water’ as part of her treatment and instructed them to bring Indrakanthi back to the church for the healing service on April 23. On arriving at the church on the agreed-upon date, the pastor conducted the prayers and blessed several bottles of water to drive out the evil spirit from Indrakanthi. She was then given the ‘blessed water’ to drink. However, after consuming it, her demonic possession aggravated to the point where she attempted to undress herself. Indrakanthi became ‘dehydrated’ and experienced breathing difficulties during the healing service.
Her relatives said that they eventually took Indrakanthi in a lorry and rushed her to the Puttalam Base Hospital, where she died.
On inquiring from the police about the bottles of water provided by the pastor, the OIC of the Madurankuliya Police Station, Gamini Wickremasingha said that the pastor does not provide any water to the patients.
Instead, he blesses the water or the bottles of water brought by the patients and their relatives from their homes or purchased from trade outlets. This has been the church’s longstanding practice.
OIC Wickremasinghe added that Baba Mama’s Palliya had been a popular church in Madurankuliya Mukkuthoduwawa for over three decades and gained popularity under Baba Mama, the father of its current pastor.
