Health

Couple Beaten to Death in Bizarre Stop-Smoking Ritual

Friday, October 03, 2008 | FoxNews.com

A couple from Malaysia was beaten to death Thursday in a bizarre stop-smoking ritual, Agence France-Presse reported.

Police spokesman Ku Chin Wah told the official Bernama news agency that Mohamed Ibrahim Kader Mydin, 47, and his wife Rosina Mydin Pillay, 41, sustained head injuries in a beating intended to cure them of smoking and other illnesses.

The 15-year-old daughter of one of the four relatives who participated in the beating was also attacked and is fighting for her life in a hospital, according to AFP.

Police said that Mohamed Ibrahim asked family to help him kick his smoking habit, and confided in relatives that his wife was suffering from asthma and a liver ailment.

"Following this, a 23-year-old male relative suggested that the couple undergo a ritual which involved all family members joining forces to beat up the couple to rid them of their ailments,'' Ku told Bernama.

The couple's heads were smashed on tables and beaten with crash helmets and brooms.

It is believed one of the four suspects, who are now in police custody, belongs to a
"deviant'' cult.

Click here to read more on this story from AFP.