Twin grave dug up for devil-dancing rite to ‘cure’ possessed woman

By Buddhika Kumarasiri   

The twin graves of two young men who drowned in the Thawalgoda canal in Kosgama about a month ago and buried in the Pranagama cemetery at Kosgama had been dug up by a group of exorcists to perform demonic rites to cure a patient possessed by an evil spirit.   

They had dug up the grave to a depth of about two feet and performed the rites. Police officers from the Kosgama police who initiated investigations of the incident on complaints received from the parents of the deceased young men examined CCTV recordings in the surrounding area to find that a lorry and a motorcycle had left the scene after loading the requisites used for devil dancing and arrived at a house at Kosgama Vidyala Mawatha .   

The owner of the house, under interrogation admitted his involvement in the incident and stated that a group of exorcists from Mahiyangana had performed exorcism rites to cast out an evil spirit possessing his wife.

 He was produced before the Avissawella Magistrate on Tuesday (16) and released on bail and informed the relatives on court order to close the grave.   

However, a tense atmosphere prevailed at the scene on Tuesday evening under the impression that the coffins would have been taken away after dumping the body in the pit. The police that rushed to the scene allowed the residents of the area to dig up the pit to find the coffins.   

Police said they initiated further investigations to arrest the exorcists involved.