Malaysian girl dies during exorcism ritual

London, Aug 7 (IANS) A three-year-old Malaysian girl has died after seven members of her family allegedly suffocated her during an exorcism ritual, the Daily Mail reported.

The ritual took place at the home of the child's parents in Bukit Mertajam town, 280 km from Kuala Lumpur.

Both parents, a grandmother, an uncle, two cousins of the victim and an Indonesian maid have been arrested, and investigators are treating the case as murder, Mail said Tuesday.

"Police believe the child died shortly before they arrived because the body was still warm and the cause of death was believed to be suffocation," Azman Abd Lah, police chief of the Seberang Perai Tengah district, said.