A pastor and his wife are in custody accused of killing three of their children by starving them to ward off evil spirits, police in South Korea said Wednesday.
The couple told police the children -- aged nine, seven and three -- had been ill, which they believed was a sign they were invaded by evil spirits after eating too much on Lunar New Year.
They then cut the children's hair to chase the spirits out and starved them from January 24 until February 2, only allowing them to drink water. Local media reports said the parents had beaten the children with a belt and a fly swatter numerous times.
The pastor, named only by his surname Park, and his wife, Cho, told police they tied the children's arms and legs with stockings. All three died on February 2, the first around 2am, the second at 5am and the third at 7am, according to police in the town of Boseong, more than 186 miles (300 kilometers) south of Seoul.
The bodies were found nine days later by Park's brother-in-law. Police said the couple was praying in the hope of resurrecting the children. Their eight-month-old
The couple told police the children -- aged nine, seven and three -- had been ill, which they believed was a sign they were invaded by evil spirits after eating too much on Lunar New Year.
They then cut the children's hair to chase the spirits out and starved them from January 24 until February 2, only allowing them to drink water. Local media reports said the parents had beaten the children with a belt and a fly swatter numerous times.
The pastor, named only by his surname Park, and his wife, Cho, told police they tied the children's arms and legs with stockings. All three died on February 2, the first around 2am, the second at 5am and the third at 7am, according to police in the town of Boseong, more than 186 miles (300 kilometers) south of Seoul.
The bodies were found nine days later by Park's brother-in-law. Police said the couple was praying in the hope of resurrecting the children. Their eight-month-old
daughter who survived has been taken into care, police said.[source]
I'm speechless. There's really nothing left to say. Religion sucks. How many kids have died by the hands of their fundy christian parents? Will we ever be able to calculate that number? This is the price we pay for fundamentalism. This is the superstitious insanity that organized religion breeds.
Horrifying. They fed eachother's delusions but couldn't feed their own kids.
ReplyDeleteWhat are they thinking now, I wonder?
Are they mad at God for not resurrecting their kids.
Those who encourage the idea that there are invisible beings out there interacting with people share the responsibility for the communications people imagine they are getting.
Monstrous. Three children are dead because of dangerous superstition.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this kind of thinking isn't limited to faraway places. You'd be surprised how many Charismatic Christians still believe in demons -- take the New Apostolic Reformation folks for example.
Korea got hit very badly with the evangelization stick some generations back. Oddly enough, it was largely the upper classes that were converted - the lower classes remained Buddhist - but I guess when it trickled down, the animism that had been mixed in with their Buddhist beliefs made the transition successfully.
ReplyDeleteI saw you "Liked" my comment in that Star-Telegram thread. Texas, eh? Offer it back to Mexico, and hope like hell they don't ask too many questions!
Texas makes me sad. If only the stupid people would move somewhere else and leave the beautiful deserts for the smart people. I love my state's natural beauty, but the human inhabitants are just annoying.
ReplyDelete