Let’s try to resolve this matter

Apr 18, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I write with reference to the much publicized story of 14-year old Sangeeta Persaud who died after a failed attempt to cast-out the demons that supposedly inhabited her body.
Sangeeta’s grandmother’s statement published in SN two days ago is very powerful and very credible. It is an eyewitness account of what actually happened. It spoke in crystal clear language of the following abuses she observed at the exorcism proceedings:
(a) They pounded on her chest.
(b) They “palmed” her.
(c) They knocked down potions of strange “oils” and mixtures of lime and salt down her throat.
(d) They kept her from being taken to the hospital for five hours. These five-hours are crucial and may have saved her life.
(e) During the exorcism that lasted five hours she bled from her “private parts”, suggesting her internal organs might have been ruptured.
Grandmother Chaitranie’s statements from the earliest reports to the above cited statement have been very consistent. It is my firm opinion that her testimony will hold up in any court of law before any jury.
Now the above specific itemized abuses constitute a violation under Guyana’s criminal statutes. The child died. The Post Mortem is inconclusive. No chance of a second opinion.
Government will not exhume the body. Therefore the question of what charge is appropriate based on the available evidence in this case must be determined. A crime has been committed, as per the above-listed physical abuses. Who will make the decision to charge? Who will determine the specific charges? The Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack is that person under the constitution tasked with that job. She must act now and resolve this case.
There is no evidence of an intention to commit murder. But certainly there is solid evidence of willful and deliberate physical abuses that led to death – and these are violations under the law.
There are other profound issues in this case: What is this thing about demons, demons inhabiting the bodies of human-beings, and pastors certified to “cast-out” demons from people so-possessed? This is a medieval practice.
We live in an enlightened age. The vast majority of the world’s population no longer believes in these practices.
The Bible does make references to Jesus Christ casting-out “demons”, but that was 2,000 years ago. And, we have no way of knowing what the authors of the bible meant by “demons” so long ago.
In any event today enlightened Hindus as well as enlightened Christians and Muslims in Guyana and the world over do not believe in demons – and other such backward practices.
Also, in the last few 100 years science has many breakthroughs, and we now know that what people called “demons” centuries ago are today known as psychological and mental disorders. Thanks to Sigmund Freud and others who ushered in a new discipline called psychoanalysis.
If Shalimar Ali-Hack were to institute charges of “child abuse” that involved willful and intentional neglect against Pastors Gulab and Cummings, this trial could potentially become a powerful tool to teach/educate the public against these backward beliefs and practices – as well as bring justice to Sangeeta’s case.
This case would most certainly become Guyana’s equivalent of the Salem (Massachusetts) Witch hunt trials of the 1600s which reflected popular belief at that time. Guyana’s case in this 21st century would most certainly reflect the popular belief of the Guyanese and world’s people today.
Fifty years ago in a rural rice-farming village in Guyana I witnessed the following incident: There lived a married woman (approximate age 30-35) who had some sort of an obsession with another man. She would scream out and run to the window trying to jump out at all hours of day and night. My uncle had developed a reputation as a sort of a Hindu shaman.
The village elders and the woman’s husband invited my Uncle to “cast-out” or “jhaaray” the jumbie/demon that they believed inhabited the woman’s body.
In a 30-minute so-called “exorcism” rite, my uncle used his “broad-buckle cowskin belt” to deal some powerful blows on the woman’s back. It surely would have created welts.
Lo and behold! The woman became very silent and was pronounced healed: free of the demons. She never once again manifested those demon-possessed behaviours. The villagers’ belief in demons must have deepened. And, my uncle’s reputation soared. He always carried his belt whenever he went on these exorcism missions.
Some years later I was enrolled in a College course on psychology in New York. One of the textbooks included case studies on psychoanalysis. When I brought up the story from my childhood days the professor explained that the flogging instilled fear in the woman and from that point on she bottled-up whatever was bothering her mentally and psychologically. She continued to suffer. And, with the passage of time the problems eased gradually to allow her to return to a semblance of normalcy. Since then several other psychologists with whom I discussed this case gave an almost identical answer.
Today the proper treatment for this woman would be therapy sessions with a certifiably trained psychologist or treatment by a psychiatrist if medications were deemed necessary.
Today in Guyana, no matter what the specific cause of the mental and psychological problems the individual suffered, Bishop Edghill and pastors Gulab and Cummings would be only too quick to diagnose it as demon-possessed. It appears pastor Cummings – like my uncle with his exorcism’s belt – always carries around a bottle of “oils” in his knapsack. Sangeeta’s case is less about poverty and proselytizing Christians enticing Hindus with gifts and converting them – (this is what Pro-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Prem Misir said) – than about a backward belief that is pervasive in Guyanese society – among Hindus, Christians and Muslims.
The only way to deal with this problem is mass education targeting this particular belief – and ordering the arrest of Pastors Gulab and Cummings would certainly help in this effort. Bishop Edghill and Reverend Seopaul Singh are in the advocacy business – advocating belief in demons.
They must be considered a duo of badly misguided men and potentially dangerous.
Mike Persaud

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