Exorcism Trial
Priests' account of the "prayer" session
-- By Selena Lum & Carolyn Quek
Father Jacob Ong said Madam Amutha's son, Jairaj Jeyabal, 28, had approached him while he was at the Pastoral Centre asking if he was a priest.
He wanted a priest to pray over his mother, who was possessed by the spirit of a dead soldier and behaving suicidally.
They had just come from a restaurant where she acted hysterically and caused a commotion. So they brought her to the church.
In the church, Madam Valli was creeping on the floor, slithering like a snake. Her daughter, Subashini Jeyabel, 22, and "brother" Resham Singh, 37, were standing by. When Resham said "Soldier, stand up" and "soldier march", she would obey before getting down on the floor again.
Fr Ong got hold of Fr Simon Tan to help pray over her. Both priests picked up their prayer books and holy water.
When they next saw her, she was already in the Pastoral Centre. She had "marched" in, according to others.
When Fr Tan sprinkled holy water round the room, she started behaving wildly and shouting incoherently. She was pinned down by her daughter and Resham for 15 minutes.
As she was behaving aggressively, Fr Ong asked other church-goers who were attending a farewell party on the grounds for help. Five men and two women responded.
The family was told to wait outside while the prayer session took place. They moved in and out of the room anyway and could see through a glass window what was happening inside.
Some people did restrain her, holding her hands and legs. But it was done to prevent her from hurting herself.
She had even tried strangling herself twice.
The two priests read or sang words of prayer. Outside the room, other Catholics had gathered to pray.
When she asked to use the toilet, two women and her daughter accompanied her.
The priests were nowhere near the toilet. They were in the room clearing up and shifting furniture back in place.
On her return, Madam Amutha turned abusive, levelling vulgar words and threatening to sue everyone. She also scolded her family members for bringing her to church.
Neither she nor her family members had objected to any part of proceedings at any time. Nor did they ask for the police or an ambulance.
Fr Tan suggested that the family return home. They did, but not before thanking him for his help.
I drank Adrian Lim's blood: Madam Valli's medical case notes
She was an alcoholic, took drugs and had been suffering from a whole host of psychiatric problems since 1989.
But Madam Amutha Valli, 50, kept mum about her medical history, and had even implored her past doctors not to reveal the truth, the High Court was told on Wednesday, at the start of the hearing into the exorcism rites she had alleged were forced on her by priests of Novena Church three years ago.
In their opening statements, defence lawyers for the two priests and seven other defendants who are being sued by Madam Valli, presented hospital records of National University Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Institute of Mental Health where she had been receiving treatment for her mental disorders.
Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim from Drew & Napier, who is defending Father Jacob Ong, with Mr Darrell Low, told the court that Madam Valli was found to be in a "dissociative state" as far back as December 1986.
Dissociative trance disorder, to a lay person, clergyman or priest, is a state akin to possession.
Madam Valli was diagnosed as suffering from "hysterical dissociative neurosis" in January 1987, according to her medicals records kept by NUH, which treated her from 1986 to 1989.
The NUH case notes also detailed her history of entering into trances, including one where she had glided on the floor like a snake.
Excerpts of the case notes were presented in court on Wednesday:
One of them, dated Dec 26, 1986, states: "glides on floor, hissing like a snake last 1-3 minutes slumps onto ground and regain normal consciousness. unable to recall events during trance."
Another, dated Jan 6, 1987, said she went to see the notorious medium Adrian Lim sometime in 1984 to get a cure for her trances.
Lim, 41, his wife Tan Mui Choo, 28, and mistress Hoe Kah Hong, 27, murdered two schoolchildren, aged nine and 10, in early 1981. All three were hanged in 1988.
Excerpts of the case notes said she saw Lim twice and drank his blood and went into a trance together with him. She added that Lim gave her shock treatment by electrocution.
She stopped seeing after she found out about the murders he had committed from newspaper reports. She felt "guilty and embarrassed," she told the NUH doctors.
A Jan 21, 1987 case note gave a glimpse into her personal history.
The excerpts read: "started going into trances for religious purposes at age 12. Trances at religious ceremonies at home - encouraged by mother, family and neighbour. Becomes incarnation of snake god and predicts and foretells fortune, past, present."
The court also heard that she told her doctor at Flame Tree Clinic on Oct 21, 2005, which she had asked for a medical report on her mental state, not to mention any of her family problems, alcoholism and depression.
Her doctor, apparently told her that suppression of information would not be right as it would be "a great omission of the truth".
On Nov 10, 2006, Madam Valli, in a sworn statement, insisted that the only psychiatric condition which she had suffered from was stress and alcohol dependency and she had been hospitalised at the IMH. Yet, in IHM's case notes dated Oct 30, 2006, she called an IMH doctor and told him that she "never had treatment at NUH before."
Madam Valli was also seen by psychhiatrists, Prof Ong Thiew Chai of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Dr Angelina Chan of Changi General Hospital in on Sept 3 and April 15, 2005 respectively, but their medical reports of her condition make no mention her psychiatric history prior to the Aug 10, 2004 incident at Novena Church.
It was later revealed that she did not bring her past history in NUH to their attention.
"It is submitted that all these omissions of past medical/psychiatric history deprived both Prof Ong and Dr Chan from arriving at a true and complete evaluation of the plaintiff's actual psychiatric condition," said Mr Yim. - The Straits Times
Source
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Sick victim or slithering snake?
Lawyers give contrasting views on woman suing church over alleged exorcism
Leong Wee Keat
A FORMER national athlete who was strong and fit but whose health deteriorated after an alleged exorcism. A woman with a history of mental illness who may have met infamous murderer Adrian Lim, drinking his blood and entering into a trance together.
Such contrasting portraits of the same woman — 50-year-old Madam Amutha Valli — emerged on the first day of her civil suit against Novena Church over an alleged exorcism. Yesterday's hearing also drew vastly different accounts of what happened in the church on the night of Aug 10, 2004.
Mdm Valli is suing the church and eight people for damages arising from what she believes to be rites of exorcism. According to Mdm Valli, the alleged exorcism, performed by two Catholic priests with the help of seven church helpers — one of whom has migrated and against whom no charges will be pursued — had left her traumatised and unable to work.
Opening his client's case yesterday, lawyer R S Bajwa said this "is not a case against freedom of religion". Rather, this is about the imposition of a religious ritual on Mdm Valli, without checking her medical condition, he argued.
"We are not saying the defendants acted with malice or wicked intentions," Mr Bajwa said.
"They may have wanted to help the plaintiff. But what they did they should not have done ... they have caused damage to her."
But lawyer Tito Issac, acting on behalf of Novena Church and Father Simon Tan, one of the two priests, called Mdm Valli's allegations "unbelievable". He said Mdm Valli had been "slithering like a snake, shouting and screaming like Satan and marching like a soldier" before the alleged exorcism at the church.
Father Tan, who had been approached by Mdm Valli's family, had to help her in his duty as a priest to conduct a prayer session, argued Mr Issac.
Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim, who is defending Father Jacob Ong, the other priest involved, also described Mdm Valli's allegations as an "incredible story".
Mr Yim sought to draw parallels to what happened to Mdm Valli some 20 years ago. Between 1986 and 1989, he said, she had sought treatment at National University Hospital (NUH) for a psychiatric condition.
Mr Yim told the High Court that Mdm Valli's condition was so serious she had to be relieved from her job and compensated $30,000 by her telco industry employer.
He said evidence would be produced during the course of the civil suit that Mdm Valli had allegedly told a doctor she no longer was suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, barely a week after leaving the firm.
Calling her current allegations a part of "a well-hatched scam", Mr Yim urged the court to consider Mdm Valli's previous conduct. Two days after the alleged exorcism at the church, she had apparently remarked to doctors she felt the defendants "were all silly" and that she "(was) enjoying the stupidity of the situation".
Extended surveillance, conducted by private investigators for more than 1,000 hours, would also prove Mdm Valli was putting on a false front, said the defendants' lawyers.
Video footage recorded after the civil suit was filed showed that Mdm Valli was able to walk independently, and visit the gym and public bathrooms alone. She would only appear frail, weak and pale during her medical appointments, they argued.
Lawyer Anthony Lee, who is representing three of the church volunteers, also painted an unflattering picture of Mdm Valli. He said she had apparently met convicted murderer Lim — described in reports as a medium — twice in the early 1980s, drinking his blood and entering into a trance together. She even received electric shock treatment from Lim, Mr Lee said.
After her bout of mental and psychiatric disorders in the late '80s, Mdm Valli turned to alcohol in 1990, downing a bottle of gin a day, Mr Lee said. Ten years after she developed the habit, she suffered another breakdown and had to be admitted to the Institute of Mental Health. She later developed another dependence in 2003 on a powerful sleeping pill, he added.
But Mdm Valli's daughter, Ms Subashini Jeyabal, testified that she "did not know" her mother had been battling alcoholism and health problems.
Mr Issac then suggested that the 22-year-old knew her mother had been drinking, but had "put on a brave front for the public eye".
Ms Jeyabal replied: "This is very far from the truth. I am here to speak the truth."
Source
Leong Wee Keat
A FORMER national athlete who was strong and fit but whose health deteriorated after an alleged exorcism. A woman with a history of mental illness who may have met infamous murderer Adrian Lim, drinking his blood and entering into a trance together.
Such contrasting portraits of the same woman — 50-year-old Madam Amutha Valli — emerged on the first day of her civil suit against Novena Church over an alleged exorcism. Yesterday's hearing also drew vastly different accounts of what happened in the church on the night of Aug 10, 2004.
Mdm Valli is suing the church and eight people for damages arising from what she believes to be rites of exorcism. According to Mdm Valli, the alleged exorcism, performed by two Catholic priests with the help of seven church helpers — one of whom has migrated and against whom no charges will be pursued — had left her traumatised and unable to work.
Opening his client's case yesterday, lawyer R S Bajwa said this "is not a case against freedom of religion". Rather, this is about the imposition of a religious ritual on Mdm Valli, without checking her medical condition, he argued.
"We are not saying the defendants acted with malice or wicked intentions," Mr Bajwa said.
"They may have wanted to help the plaintiff. But what they did they should not have done ... they have caused damage to her."
But lawyer Tito Issac, acting on behalf of Novena Church and Father Simon Tan, one of the two priests, called Mdm Valli's allegations "unbelievable". He said Mdm Valli had been "slithering like a snake, shouting and screaming like Satan and marching like a soldier" before the alleged exorcism at the church.
Father Tan, who had been approached by Mdm Valli's family, had to help her in his duty as a priest to conduct a prayer session, argued Mr Issac.
Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim, who is defending Father Jacob Ong, the other priest involved, also described Mdm Valli's allegations as an "incredible story".
Mr Yim sought to draw parallels to what happened to Mdm Valli some 20 years ago. Between 1986 and 1989, he said, she had sought treatment at National University Hospital (NUH) for a psychiatric condition.
Mr Yim told the High Court that Mdm Valli's condition was so serious she had to be relieved from her job and compensated $30,000 by her telco industry employer.
He said evidence would be produced during the course of the civil suit that Mdm Valli had allegedly told a doctor she no longer was suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, barely a week after leaving the firm.
Calling her current allegations a part of "a well-hatched scam", Mr Yim urged the court to consider Mdm Valli's previous conduct. Two days after the alleged exorcism at the church, she had apparently remarked to doctors she felt the defendants "were all silly" and that she "(was) enjoying the stupidity of the situation".
Extended surveillance, conducted by private investigators for more than 1,000 hours, would also prove Mdm Valli was putting on a false front, said the defendants' lawyers.
Video footage recorded after the civil suit was filed showed that Mdm Valli was able to walk independently, and visit the gym and public bathrooms alone. She would only appear frail, weak and pale during her medical appointments, they argued.
Lawyer Anthony Lee, who is representing three of the church volunteers, also painted an unflattering picture of Mdm Valli. He said she had apparently met convicted murderer Lim — described in reports as a medium — twice in the early 1980s, drinking his blood and entering into a trance together. She even received electric shock treatment from Lim, Mr Lee said.
After her bout of mental and psychiatric disorders in the late '80s, Mdm Valli turned to alcohol in 1990, downing a bottle of gin a day, Mr Lee said. Ten years after she developed the habit, she suffered another breakdown and had to be admitted to the Institute of Mental Health. She later developed another dependence in 2003 on a powerful sleeping pill, he added.
But Mdm Valli's daughter, Ms Subashini Jeyabal, testified that she "did not know" her mother had been battling alcoholism and health problems.
Mr Issac then suggested that the 22-year-old knew her mother had been drinking, but had "put on a brave front for the public eye".
Ms Jeyabal replied: "This is very far from the truth. I am here to speak the truth."
Source
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Novena Church exorcism suit begins tomorrow
Ex-national sportswoman claims exorcism forced on her. Priests give different account
Novena Church exorcism suit begins tomorrow
By Crystal Chan
October 24, 2007
SHE claimed she was given a forced exorcism.
The church said it was just a prayer session.
The trial is due to begin tomorrow in the High Court - three years after the alleged incident.
Madam Amutha Valli, 50, is accusing the Novena Church, two of its priests and seven of its helpers of 'exorcising her' against her will.
The former national walker is asking the High Court to award her compensation for loss of earnings and future medical expenses.
She also said that because of the trauma she suffered, she had to stop giving private tuition. The incident has also left her depressed and she is in need of 24-hour care.
Madam Amutha is leaving it to the High Court to assess the damages, which would be at least $250,000 if she wins. Suits involving at least $250,000 are heard in the High Court.
SAVINGS WIPED OUT
She claimed her medical expenses, amounting to more than $70,000, have wiped out most of her family's savings. This included hiring a maid to look after her.
The trial has been set for three weeks before Justice Lee Seiu Kin.
This is believed to be the first time an exorcism is the subject of a lawsuit here.
Madam Amutha said that on 10 Aug, 2004, she, her son, daughter and a male family friend went to the church at Thomson Road as her son, Mr Jairajkumar Jeyabal, then 27, wanted to pray there.
She claimed that she fainted there, and that Father Simon Tan and Father Jacob Ong took her to a room to rest while her family waited outside.
It is alleged that Father Tan came out of the room and told her family that she was possessed by a spirit and would need to be exorcised.
Both Father Tan and Father Ong are said to have gathered seven other church helpers to assist in the 'exorcism'.
The 'exorcism' lasted about 2 1/2 hours, and Madam Amutha supposedly protested against it.
She claimed she was pinned to the floor by five of the helpers while the two priests stood in front of her and two other helpers recited the Bible.
She also alleged that when she insisted on going to the toilet, Father Tan prevented her from closing the door, resulting in her having to relieve herself under his watch.
Madam Amutha also accused the church helpers, who allegedly held her down, of verbally abusing her and threatening to 'break her head'.
She and her family claimed that the church members told them to leave the place after they demanded to call the police and for an ambulance.
However, the church, the priests and the seven helpers gave a different account.
In his defence, Father Tan said that the actual event was not an exorcism, but a prayer session that had been requested by her and her family.
He denied locking her up against her will, outraging her modesty, or injuring her during the prayer session.
Father Tan claimed it was Madam Amutha who hurled vulgarities at the worshippers and at her own family as well.
He said Madam Amutha was 'violently shaking the grilles leading to the prayer hall', and that her daughter told him then that her mother was 'possessed and suicidal'.
ABUSIVE
He also said that the family was asked to leave the church when Madam Amutha continued to be abusive.
Father Ong's account is similar to Father Tan's, except for one other thing - he claimed Madam Amutha was also creeping on all fours in the church.
He said a man, who claimed to be Madam Amutha's brother, told him she was possessed by a dead soldier's spirit.
Following this, the brother ordered Madam Amutha: 'Soldier, stand up' and 'Soldier, march'.
Madam Amutha then obeyed the 'commands' and started marching.
She then returned to creeping on all fours.
Her family made a police report, but no criminal charges were filed against the defendants.
A report by psychiatrist Angelina Chan of Changi General Hospital stated that Madam Amutha's symptoms are a 'direct result of the traumatic incident that she experienced at the church'.
LAW FIRM REJECTED CASE
The suit was not without its hiccups.
Madam Amutha's family first approached well-known criminal lawyer Mr Subhas Anandan.
But Mr Anandan's then employer, Harry Elias Partnership, told him to reject the case as the law firm has a policy of not acting against a place of worship.
Mr R.S. Bajwa of Bajwa & Co is now representing Madam Amutha.
Novena Church and Father Tan is represented by Mr Tito Isaac and Mr P Padman of Tito Isaac & Co, while Father Ong is represented by Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim and MrDarrell Low of Drew & Napier, as well as Mr Cosmas Gomez of Cosmas & Co.
Source
Novena Church exorcism suit begins tomorrow
By Crystal Chan
October 24, 2007
SHE claimed she was given a forced exorcism.
The church said it was just a prayer session.
The trial is due to begin tomorrow in the High Court - three years after the alleged incident.
Madam Amutha Valli, 50, is accusing the Novena Church, two of its priests and seven of its helpers of 'exorcising her' against her will.
The former national walker is asking the High Court to award her compensation for loss of earnings and future medical expenses.
She also said that because of the trauma she suffered, she had to stop giving private tuition. The incident has also left her depressed and she is in need of 24-hour care.
Madam Amutha is leaving it to the High Court to assess the damages, which would be at least $250,000 if she wins. Suits involving at least $250,000 are heard in the High Court.
SAVINGS WIPED OUT
She claimed her medical expenses, amounting to more than $70,000, have wiped out most of her family's savings. This included hiring a maid to look after her.
The trial has been set for three weeks before Justice Lee Seiu Kin.
This is believed to be the first time an exorcism is the subject of a lawsuit here.
Madam Amutha said that on 10 Aug, 2004, she, her son, daughter and a male family friend went to the church at Thomson Road as her son, Mr Jairajkumar Jeyabal, then 27, wanted to pray there.
She claimed that she fainted there, and that Father Simon Tan and Father Jacob Ong took her to a room to rest while her family waited outside.
It is alleged that Father Tan came out of the room and told her family that she was possessed by a spirit and would need to be exorcised.
Both Father Tan and Father Ong are said to have gathered seven other church helpers to assist in the 'exorcism'.
The 'exorcism' lasted about 2 1/2 hours, and Madam Amutha supposedly protested against it.
She claimed she was pinned to the floor by five of the helpers while the two priests stood in front of her and two other helpers recited the Bible.
She also alleged that when she insisted on going to the toilet, Father Tan prevented her from closing the door, resulting in her having to relieve herself under his watch.
Madam Amutha also accused the church helpers, who allegedly held her down, of verbally abusing her and threatening to 'break her head'.
She and her family claimed that the church members told them to leave the place after they demanded to call the police and for an ambulance.
However, the church, the priests and the seven helpers gave a different account.
In his defence, Father Tan said that the actual event was not an exorcism, but a prayer session that had been requested by her and her family.
He denied locking her up against her will, outraging her modesty, or injuring her during the prayer session.
Father Tan claimed it was Madam Amutha who hurled vulgarities at the worshippers and at her own family as well.
He said Madam Amutha was 'violently shaking the grilles leading to the prayer hall', and that her daughter told him then that her mother was 'possessed and suicidal'.
ABUSIVE
He also said that the family was asked to leave the church when Madam Amutha continued to be abusive.
Father Ong's account is similar to Father Tan's, except for one other thing - he claimed Madam Amutha was also creeping on all fours in the church.
He said a man, who claimed to be Madam Amutha's brother, told him she was possessed by a dead soldier's spirit.
Following this, the brother ordered Madam Amutha: 'Soldier, stand up' and 'Soldier, march'.
Madam Amutha then obeyed the 'commands' and started marching.
She then returned to creeping on all fours.
Her family made a police report, but no criminal charges were filed against the defendants.
A report by psychiatrist Angelina Chan of Changi General Hospital stated that Madam Amutha's symptoms are a 'direct result of the traumatic incident that she experienced at the church'.
LAW FIRM REJECTED CASE
The suit was not without its hiccups.
Madam Amutha's family first approached well-known criminal lawyer Mr Subhas Anandan.
But Mr Anandan's then employer, Harry Elias Partnership, told him to reject the case as the law firm has a policy of not acting against a place of worship.
Mr R.S. Bajwa of Bajwa & Co is now representing Madam Amutha.
Novena Church and Father Tan is represented by Mr Tito Isaac and Mr P Padman of Tito Isaac & Co, while Father Ong is represented by Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim and MrDarrell Low of Drew & Napier, as well as Mr Cosmas Gomez of Cosmas & Co.
Source
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