Officers discovered the body of the 41-year-old woman in a hotel room.
Officers discovered the body of the 41-year-old woman in a hotel room.
Berlin
: German police have arrested five South Koreans on suspicion of murder following the death of a relative in an exorcism ritual in the city of Frankfurt, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Officers discovered the body of the 41-year-old woman in a hotel room Saturday when the suspects called a priest after it became apparent that the victim had died, prosecutor Nadja Niesen said. -"When he saw what had happened he notified the reception, and they called police.-"
She identified the suspects as relatives of the victim - a 44-year-old woman, her 21-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, and two 15-year-old boys, one of whom is the son of the dead woman.
-"They all belonged to one big family,-" Niesen said. -"They came to Germany from South Korea six weeks ago and had rented a house in Sulzbach, but didn't stay there much.-"
Niesen said the suspects wanted to expel a -"demon-" they believed had possessed the woman. They exerted -"massive force on her chest and stomach area-" while stuffing a towel and clothes hanger into her mouth to stop her screaming, she said.
-"According to our current information the suspects subjected the victim to pain and agony for at least two hours, and their actions were motivated by a callous and merciless attitude,-" said Niesen.
-"The woman eventually died from asphyxiation as a result of the massive chest compression and violence to her neck,-" she said.
A second woman, also aged 41, was found inside the garage of the house the family had rented, said Niesen. She was taken to a hospital suffering from hypothermia and dehydration.
-"It's not clear exactly what happened to her, we are still investigating that,-" Niesen said.
