Superstition leads to senseless death in Chaiyaphum: Girl dies after monks’ administer ‘black magic’ exorcism

[webfact]

Superstition leads to senseless death: Girl dies after monks’ administer ‘black magic’ exorcism

By SUTTHIPONG SETTHARANGSI 
THE NATION

 

 

SUPERSTITIONS MORE suited to the 16th century rather than the 21st have claimed the life of a teenage girl, who succumbed after undergoing a ritual to banish a “black magic curse”.
 

Police in Chaiyaphum’s Kaeng Khro district are now looking for three men identifying as monks who were allegedly involved in a ritual that required the 18-year-old to drink two large bowls of “holy water”, after which she expired. 

 

 

The cause of the girl’s death remains a mystery as the monks have fled and removed traces of the so-called holy water, while the body has been cremated.

 

During the ritual on Sunday, the girl vomited and went into shock, after which she was taken to Krang Khro Hospital and then in critical condition to the better-equipped Chaiyaphum Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a violent seizure that had deprived her brain of oxygen. 

 

The case came to the attention of the public when the girl’s parents, Khan Cherdjorhor, 48, and Doungjit Khanakhao, 38, filed a police complaint on Tuesday. 

 

 

Khan said they regretted believing one of the monks, a visitor to the village temporarily residing at an abandoned temple since March 18, who had told them that their daughter was cursed and had to undergo a ritual. 

 

The girl’s father added that before the ritual, his daughter had appeared fine and did not display any symptoms of sickness. 

 

Chaiyaphum public health official Dr Passakorn Chaiyaset said it was difficult to determine the cause of death as the monks had fled the temple and there were not any samples left of the liquid, which could have been tested for toxins. 

 

 

The girl's body has been cremated without autopsy, he said, adding that the case hinged upon police’s effort to locate and question the monks. 

 

Passakorn also warned people not to participate in strange rituals, especially involving drinking or eating anything of unknown origin.

 

Khan said the family had held the girl’s cremation ceremony on Wednesday in line with a local tradition of cremation after a maximum three-day funeral prayer. 

 

He added that the monk who had performed the ritual had insisted that the holy water did not contain anything that could have harmed the girl, adding that it could not have been a factor in her death.

 

He said the monks had promised him that they would take responsibility for the girl’s death, but then had fled the temple, leading him to file a police complaint.

 

One of the monks is described as elderly, while the other two are middle-aged.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30342034

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-30

[Darcula]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

the monks have fled

 

They may have entered into the monkhood to make merit for this fatal mistake. Lookout for 3 cleanshaven guys wearing saffron robes.

 

[webledink33]

NO mention of whether there was  a "donation" to perform this cleansing ritual???  Just wondering?

 

[swissie]

Happened daily in Europe. But that was in the 14th century. Definitely a good place to invest your live savings and looking foreward to a life far removed from western "decadence". Enjoy!

Cheers.

[colinneil]

Why do Thai people believe this black magic BS?

Just another way for so-called monks to make money.

 

After my accident, some monks claimed to have seen my ghost on the balcony of our home.

They claimed that they had to perform a ritual to get my ghost to leave the home.

Wifes family said when our sister comes home we will get you to perform the ceremony.

 

Hello i am still here not dead, so just a money making ruse by the monks.

[Lupatria]

With all those strange things happening in Chaiyaphum, they must have a broken time travel device there which threw them back a couple of centuries with no chance to return.

[scorecard]

 

Note 'no autopsy was performed' and cremated as fast as possible.

 

How come the police were not seriously and quickly involved and ordered nothing to happen until a proper police  and medical investigation was finished? 

 

 

[swissie]

18 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Why do Thai people believe this black magic BS?

Just another way for so-called monks to make money.

 

After my accident, some monks claimed to have seen my ghost on the balcony of our home.

They claimed that they had to perform a ritual to get my ghost to leave the home.

Wifes family said when our sister comes home we will get you to perform the ceremony.

 

Hello i am still here not dead, so just a money making ruse by the monks.

Hi Colin. Quick question: Does your wife believe in this Hokus-Pokus? That is of overwhelming importance.

For you!

Cheers.

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, swissie said:

Hi Colin. Quick question: Does your wife believe in this Hokus-Pokus? That is of overwhelming importance.

For you!

Cheers.

Luckily for me she does not.

[Blackheart1916]

Idiot parents,grow up you fools.

[Lupatria]

31 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Note 'no autopsy was performed' and cremated as fast as possible.

 

How come the police were not seriously and quickly involved and ordered nothing to happen until a proper police  and medical investigation was finished? 

 

 

Because no cop would have been rewarded to do the job?

[SimonD]

Passakorn also warned people not to participate in strange rituals, especially involving drinking or eating anything of unknown origin.

 

Uh-oh, no more meals with the family for me then...

[CanterbrigianBangkoker]

How sad for the family, and what a waste. Monks should be dealt with as the criminals they are. Hocus pocus BS needs to go! It seems like slowly with the help of us foreigners, interbreeding, improved education and western media and cultural values spreading across much of the developing world, it is slowly ebbing away. Until then it's just another day in Kuay-land! 

 

[AhFarangJa]

Surely the hospital should have reported the poor girls demise, and therefore set the system in motion for an autopsy...???????

[kannot]

Religion= STUPIDITY personified....dont worry someone will  recover from cancer in a few  days and it wil be a "miracle" or be the only survivor of an A380 crash  killing   499 except "one" MIRACLE..............yeah the other 499 werent miracles, maybe  they chose the wrong fantasy god.

Give it  up, its total BS

[kannot]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

Why do Thai people believe this black magic BS?

Just another way for so-called monks to make money.

 

After my accident, some monks claimed to have seen my ghost on the balcony of our home.

They claimed that they had to perform a ritual to get my ghost to leave the home.

Wifes family said when our sister comes home we will get you to perform the ceremony.

 

Hello i am still here not dead, so just a money making ruse by the monks.

Why do they believe anything without evidence, cite any religion all are equal in the stupidity stakes.

[poanoi]

18, what a tragedy.

 

ed: i hope police set an example of these monks,

a punishment so high so it deter more dumb shit

[jvs]

Hyponatremia?

[Tchooptip]

1 hour ago, swissie said:

Happened daily in Europe. But that was in the 14th century. Definitely a good place to invest your live savings and looking foreward to a life far removed from western "decadence". Enjoy!

Cheers.

A shining example of TV decadent comments 

[Lungstib]

Same thing happened to a neighbor of mine in a village outside of Chiang Mai. During the evening monks and 'others' gathered at his dilapidated house, screams and shouts rang out amidst chants and prayers, and by morning he was announced dead. They had obviously failed to remove that evil spirit and it killed him. 

[BEVUP]

47 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Surely the hospital should have reported the poor girls demise, and therefore set the system in motion for an autopsy...???????

That's what I was thinking

So you have a person die on the bed in a hospital & they just let them cart them of

So what are they going to put on the Death Cert once the official paper work starts to go through the system ( my daughter died ) HOW ?

 

PS: We will need to identify her. Sorry can not, we cremated her

[Golden Triangle]

Having attended far too many funerals here I am surprised that absolutely nobody had their smart phone out and taking pictures of the ceremony and possibly the monks which could be a good starting point in apprehending these charlatans ??

[sawadee1947]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

but then had fled the temple,

Yeah, that's another number ONE issue in Thai society......to make a runner

[Mac98]

4 hours ago, kannot said:

Religion= STUPIDITY personified....dont worry someone will  recover from cancer in a few  days and it wil be a "miracle" or be the only survivor of an A380 crash  killing   499 except "one" MIRACLE..............yeah the other 499 werent miracles, maybe  they chose the wrong fantasy god.

Give it  up, its total BS

Agree. Stomp on an anthill. Look, survivors! It's a miracle and God was looking out for this one, and that one over there!

[cookieqw]

not sure why they filed the complaint on tuesday.  hope they are proud of themselves for killing their daughter

[dunroaming]

Superstitions everywhere in Thailand as there are in many third world countries.  Thailand my not be third world in some aspects but when it comes to ignorance it is right up there.  My brother-in-law policeman is terrified of ghosts and has to sleep with the light on.  Maybe something he learned at university or police college?

[plachon]

On 30/03/2018 at 12:21 PM, dunroaming said:

Superstitions everywhere in Thailand as there are in many third world countries.  Thailand my not be third world in some aspects but when it comes to ignorance it is right up there.  My brother-in-law policeman is terrified of ghosts and has to sleep with the light on.  Maybe something he learned at university or police college?

No, more likely something he learned from superstitious parents or relatives, and then reinforced further at the temple and various other animist traditions and ceremonies that are part and parcel of Thai and Isaan cultural life.

 

But don't think that superstitions are confined to "third world" (NB: an outdated and inappropriate term) countries alone. They are very much in evidence in everyday life here in UK and the West in general. People avidly reading horoscopes, not walking under ladders or touching wood when they need reassurance or crossing themselves is no less irrational or superstitious than a lot of the things that are superstitions in Thailand. And ignorance is alive and kicking in every Western nation - Brexit and Trump as president is living proof of that truism. In fact, Idiocracy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy) has come to the US 500 years sooner than Mike Judge imagined. 

 

The Simpsons creators were mighty prescient about how quickly mass ignorance would speed the decline in America, however.  

So don't imagine for one second that Thailand has some sort of monopoly on ignorance and superstition, but look more critically at your own homeland, wherever it happens to be.

[BangkokReady]

My word. Get these people democracy now!

 

I can see why people are demanding democratically elected government. These people are definitely in a fine position to come together and decide who should govern their country.

 

Can't wait to see who they choose, should the Junta follow through with their promises.

[BangkokReady]

On 30/03/2018 at 3:12 AM, kannot said:

Why do they believe anything without evidence, cite any religion all are equal in the stupidity stakes.

While you're partly right, the culture and education of the individuals also make a difference.

 

A Thai Buddhist raised in central Bangkok would be far less likely to fall for this scam, a Thai Buddhist raised in a Western country even more so.

[rodney earl]

Another wasted life in the name of religion.!!!