368,379 people killed, 306,096 injured and over $2,815,931,000 in economic damages

What's the harm in exorcisms?

An exorcism is a religious rite to drive Satan or other demons out of a person's body, or to remove a curse. Read more about exorcisms

Here are 1,089 people who were harmed by someone not thinking critically.

Kousar Bashir & Mohammed Bashir Age: 20 & 56 Coppice, Oldham, Manchester, England	Died June 1991 & April 28, 2005
She was depressed after failing a driving test. Her father hired two holy men to rid an "evil spirit" from her body. They beat her to death. 13 years later, her father set himself on fire in a depression of his own. Read more

Amy Burney Age: 5 Staten Island, New York	Murdered April 27, 1997
Like many small children, Amy was prone to tantrums. In an attempted exorcism, her mother and grandmother tied her down and forced her to swallow a toxic potion and taped her mouth shut. They were charged with second degree murder. Read more

Kira Canhoto Age: 2 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada	Died January 15, 1995
Her parents and grandmother thought she was possessed by a demon, so they attempted an exorcism. They forced her to drink huge quantities of water. The grandmother, mother and a neighbor were convicted of manslaughter. Read more

Amora Bain Carson Age: 13 months Henderson, Texas	Died December 2, 2008
They believed the child was possessed and tried to rid her of demons. They allegedly bludgeoned her and bit her more than 20 times. She died. Her mother and a man were arrested and held on $2 million bond. Read more

Sommai Chaipanya Age: 38 Udon Thani, Thailand	Died April 1996
A mother of 2, she was beaten with a dried stingray tail by a shaman. The family had suggested it as a way to rid evil spirits. She fled but the shaman abucted her and continued until she died. The shaman was charged with murder. Read more

Kyung Jae Chung Age: 53 Century City, California	Died July 4, 1996
She willingly let her husband and two other missionaries begin an exorcism on her. It turned into a 6 hour ordeal, at the end of which she had 16 broken ribs and collapsed lungs. Two were convicted of manslaughter. Read more

Susan Kay Clark Age: 59 Odessa, Texas	Died (suffocation) February 1, 2008
Her husband said she was possessed by a demon, so he held her face down on the floor as part of an exorcism. She suffocated, and her husband was charged with murder. Read more & more

Maricica Irina Cornici Age: 23 Tanacu, Romania	Crucified June 18, 2005
Exorcism Read more & more & more

Terrance Cottrell Jr. Age: 8 Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Died August 22, 2003
Diagnosed as autistic at 2, he was a problem child. Church members thought he was possessed by the devil. In an exorcism he was held down for two hours until he suffocated. The pastor was sentenced to prison, but never admitted guilt. Read more & more

Shashi Devi & Ruchi Kumar Age: 55 Ghaziabad, India	1 Dead, 6 Injured April 26, 2008
Three well educated men decided their mother was possessed by the spirit of a dead relative. They beat her to death exorcising the spirit. Then they attacked their sister-in-law in an attempted human sacrifice. All were arrested. Read more

Faranah Essop Age: 20 Chatsworth, Durban, South Africa	Died September 29, 2005
Exorcism Read more

Dane Gibson Age: 12 Inglewood, New Zealand	Murdered May 17, 1994
After attending a fundamentalist church, they became convinced they were surrounded by demons. The boy had been held down in the yard as part of an exorcism. They were found not guilty of murder. Read more

Carl Glatzel Jr. Age: 11 Brookfield, Connecticut	Exploited by psychic investigators 1981
Exorcism Read more & more

David Glatzel Age: 11 Brookfield, Connecticut	Exploited by psychic investigators 1981
Exorcism Read more & more

Kyong-A Ha Age: 24 Emeryville, California	Murdered March 8, 1995
She had persistent insomnia, so her family turned to a minister who said she was possessed by demons. The attempted exorcism lasted six hours and ended in her death. They stayed with the body for five days waiting for her to return from heaven. Read more

Latifa Hatchmi Age: 23 Brussels, Belgium	Died August 5, 2004
She thought her infertility was caused by demons, so she sought an exorcism from a group to which her husband belonged. She was repeatedly immersed in water and suffered broken bones before she died. Read more

Cheung Kiu Ho Age: 48 Norwich, England	Murdered October 1993
She believed her body had been invaded by snakes and worms, so she sought an exorcism from her brother. Neighbors heard screams and she was found dead. The brother served five years. Read more

Brittany & Tatianna Jacks, N'Kiah & Aja Fogle Age: 17, 11, 6 & 5 Washington, D.C.	Murdered by their mother December 2007
Police found their bodies in their mother's apartment while serving an eviction notice. When arrested, the mother claimed the girls were possessed by demons. Read more

Louise Lardjourne Age: 19 Roubaix, France	Murdered July 1, 1994
Exorcism Read more

Nong Thi Loi & her family Age: 63 & 37 to 47 Tuong village, Cao Bang province, Vietnam	6 people dead, one sickened November 13, 2007
After she became sick from drinking wine laced with herbal plants, her family held an exorcism to cure her. The rest of the family drank the wine and died. She might have mistaken a poisonous herb for a safe one. Read more & more

Ronald Marquez Age: 49 Phoenix, Arizona	Died July 28, 2007
Exorcism Read more

Malissa Mayfield Age: 29 Sydney, NSW, Australia	Murdered June 19, 2006
She met a couple who shared her belief in psychic powers and the supernatural. The man told her he could remove her bad demons by sleeping with her (which he did). When she tried to sever contact, he strangled her. She leaves two daughters behind. Read more & more

Anneliese Michel Age: 23 Klingenberg am Main, Bavaria, Germany	Died July 1, 1976
Exorcism / Religious fanaticism Read more

Charity Miranda-Martin Age: 17 Riverhead, New York	Murdered January 1998
In attempt to rid her of demons, her mother and sister allegedly suffocated her with a plastic bag. They were charged with murder. Read more

Janet Moses Age: 22 Wainuiomata, New Zealand	Died October 12, 2007
Janet's relatives believed she was the victim of a Maori curse. She was drowned during an exorcism ceremony, leaving her two children motherless. Several people were charged with manslaughter. Read more

Janet Moses' cousin (minor) Age: 14 Wainuiomata, New Zealand	Hospitalized, nearly died October 12, 2007
During Janet Moses' exorcism, she suffered corneal damage as relatives scratched at her eyes. Read more & more

Mary Odegbami Age: 26 East Ham, Greater London, England	Murdered April 1994
After she tried to call off the engagement, her fiance believed she was possessed by the devil. He locked her in a room, starved her and beat her for 14 days. After she died, they tried to resurrect her for 3 days. The fiance got six years in prison. Read more

Signifagance Oliver Age: 4 Washington Heights, New York, New York	Died (drowning) November 13, 2001
Her mother was charged with murder after telling police that she was trying to exorcise the child of demons. The child drowned. Read more

Sylvester Orieso Age: 5 New Cross, Greater London, England	Murdered November 1997
His mother strangled her five year old son in an attempt to drive out demons. She kept his body in her home for days believing he would be healed. She was committed to a psychiatric unit. Read more

Farida Patel Age: 22 Ilford, London, England	Murdered December 9, 1993
She believed herself possessed by djinns. Her family called a Syrian woman to conduct an exorcism. She was beaten for hours, fracturing nine ribs. Three were sent to prison for manslaughter. Read more

Carolyn Shea Auckland, New Zealand	Critically injured December 1997
Her Maori boyfriend forced a crucifx up her nose with such force it entered her brain. The New Zealand High Court made legal history by accepting the argument that he was under the influence of an evil spirit, and gave him only a suspended sentence. Read more

Breeann Spickard Age: 5 Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, California	Murdered July 5, 1996
She was beaten to death during an exorcism performed by her mother and two other women. All three women were convicted of murder. Read more

Evelyn Vasquez Age: 6 Waukegan, Illinois	Died (stabbed) April 7, 2008
The child had a history of sleepwalking. Her mother confessed to brutally stabbing her to death because she believe she was possessed by the devil. She was charged with murder. Read more & more

Joan Vollmer Age: 49 Horsham, Victoria, Australia	Murdered January 30, 1993
Exorcism Read more

1,000 people Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan	Defrauded for 'false' exorcisms January 2003
Police arrested a man and his disciples who were selling exorcisms to people. Over a thousand people were approached in public and told they were possessed by a spirit, and then taken for between 30,000 and 1 million yen each. Read more

6 people Sukagawa, Japan	Murdered July 1995
Faith healing / exorcism Read more

mother of Abir & Hoda Cairo, Egypt	Murdered August 1994
They said their mother was "possessed by the djinn". They kicked and punched her to death in an attempt to exorcise the genie. The sisters were sent to a state mental hospital. Read more

numerous residents Kazamile, Ethiopia	$695 each October 18, 2004
A con man convinced people in this eastern town that he could speak with a demon who could make money rain from the sky. He took their money, told them to cover their faces to avoid seeing the demon, and fled. Read more

Return to the list of topics

What's the harm in exorcisms?

Kousar Bashir & Mohammed Bashir

Amy Burney

Kira Canhoto

Amora Bain Carson

Sommai Chaipanya

Kyung Jae Chung

Susan Kay Clark

Maricica Irina Cornici

Terrance Cottrell Jr.

Shashi Devi & Ruchi Kumar

Faranah Essop

Dane Gibson

Carl Glatzel Jr.

David Glatzel

Kyong-A Ha

Latifa Hatchmi

Cheung Kiu Ho

Brittany & Tatianna Jacks, N'Kiah & Aja Fogle

Louise Lardjourne

Nong Thi Loi & her family

Ronald Marquez

Malissa Mayfield

Anneliese Michel

Charity Miranda-Martin

Janet Moses

Janet Moses' cousin (minor)

Mary Odegbami

Signifagance Oliver

Sylvester Orieso

Farida Patel

Carolyn Shea

Breeann Spickard

Evelyn Vasquez

Joan Vollmer

1,000 people

6 people

mother of Abir & Hoda

numerous residents