19:45, 13 November 2018

Six persons detained after death of Baku resident from ritual beating

Residents of the city of Shabran, detained on suspicion of beating Murad Soltanov to death. Photo by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan https://ru.sputnik.az/incidents/20181112/417859252/izgnanie-djavol-ubijstvo-shabran.html

Murad Soltanov, an Azerbaijani resident, was beaten with sticks to death in an attempt to "drive out ghosts," investigators have suggested.

The body of Murad Soltanov, a 25-year-old Baku resident, was found on November 10 in an apartment in the city of Shabran.

The suspects, detained on suspicion of beating Soltanov to death, told investigators that they beat him up with pomegranate sticks, while conducting a ritual of "exorcising ghosts," which resulted in his death, the "Media.Az" reports referring to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan.

According to investigators, the casualty's father, intending to cure his son, who suffered from attacks caused by his mental illness, offered Fuzuli Garibov for 400 manats (about 235 US dollars) to "drive ghosts out " of his son's body by beating him with sticks, the "Sputnik Azerbaijan" reports, adding that the father demanded from Garibov to beat up harder, in order to "drive ghosts away" forever, despite the cries of his son. The ritual lasted for about two hours, after which Murad Soltanov died from a pain shock.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 13, 2018 at 02:40 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.