A three-year-old boy whose body was found buried at a New Mexico desert compound may have died while undergoing an exorcism ritual, a court has heard.
The remains of Abdul Ghani Wahhaj were discovered during a police raid earlier this month on the “apocalyptic-looking” hideaway in Amalia, near the Colorado border, reports CBS.
The boy’s father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, and four other adults were taken into custody and charged with abusing 11 other children found malnourished but alive in a heavily fortified and filthy trailer.
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At a bond hearing in Taos County District Court yesterday, prosecutor John Lovelace said that the rescued children, aged between one and 15, had told police that the toddler died during an exorcism ritual.
"Some of the children have stated these rituals were intended to cast out demonic spirits from Abdul Ghani's body. All five defendants knew about these rituals," Lovelace said.
The dead boy had been reported missing in December after allegedly being kidnapped from Georgia by his father.
Wahhaj is said to have told the boy’s mother that he wanted to perform an exorcism on their son, who suffered from seizures, because he believed the child was possessed by the devil.
The subsequent search led police to the compound, which was “shielded by old tires, wooden pallets and an earthen wall studded with broken glass”, according to the Associated Press.
Last week, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe appeared to fight back tears as he confirmed that the child’s body had been found on what would have been his fourth birthday, according to Time magazine.
Hogrefe had described the rescued children as looking “like Third World country refugees, not only with no food or fresh water, but with no shoes, personal hygiene and basically dirty rags for clothing”.
Some of the children have told police that they were given firearms training to prepare them to carry out school shootings.
Police said the compound appeared to be run by Wahhaj and another man, identified as Lucas Morten, who was arrested on suspicion of harbouring a fugitive.
Three women, believed to be the mothers of the children, were detained and later released. The children are in foster care.
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