Pakistan, Feb. 4 -- Exorcism has, over the years, emerged as a curse for the people of Pakistan, claiming precious lives in remote areas.

Recently, Sangeeta, a pregnant lady from Badin belonging to the marginalized Kohli community, fell prey to a brutal ritual of exorcism. The false beliefs among the community, pertaining to the influence of evil forces, demons, and witches, led her in-laws to an exorcist who applied brutal methods in the garb of procedure to rid the 30-year-old lady of the evil forces. The grisly tactics of exorcists, also known as witch-doctors in common parlance, eventually rendered the lady breathless. More frightening was the fact that the cruel exorcist kept beating her with sticks even after she had breathed her l...