Woman dies by exorcism... DATE: 04-15-91 LIMA, Peru (UPI) -- A woman bled to death during

Woman dies by exorcism...
DATE: 04-15-91

LIMA, Peru (UPI) -- A woman bled to death during an exorcism conducted
by members of her family who ripped out organs of her digestive tract
in response to her demands, a police officer said Friday.

The homicide officer, who asked that his name not be used, said the
woman's husband, Pedro Carbajal, 40, and her 20-year-old and 14-year-old
sons were suspects in her murder. Four other children of the couple
watched the exoricism and death of their mother, the officer said.

Benedicta Peralta Colonio, 38, died of blood loss Wednesday night in
her home in the Lima district of Vitarte, 6 miles east of the capital
center, after several organs were ripped from her body, the officer
said.

The officer said the family is part of a Pentecostal religious cult,
led by Brazilian priest Jose de Souza Ribeiro, that urged the family to
exorcise a demon that it blamed for chronic stomach cramps by ripping
out Peralta's digestive tract.

The officer said the woman participated in her own murder, screaming
to her husband and sons to carry out the exorcism.

``Today is the end of the world and we have to go pure to heaven.
Remove the devil from me. Remove him,'' the woman said, according to
the officer.

The policeman said family members contend Peralta threatened to kill
her husband and sons if they did not perform the ritual.

According to the officer, the family was in a ``psychological trance''
and was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the exorcism.

After Peralta died, the husband and children burned her clothing and
objects she frequently used, according to the officer, as part of the
exorcism.

The family then cleaned the house and planned to bury the body in a
clandestine location, but later changed their minds and reported the
death to police as a murder committed by unknown persons, he said.

During the funeral, the victim's mother, Leonor Colonio, called De
Souza a ``tremendous fake and swindler against believers.''

``His pressure and influence over them is so great that his teachings
caused this terrible death,'' she said.

The police officer said de Souza is also currently under
investigation.