http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_338005.html
Woman loses exorcism case
By Selina Lum
The High Court dismissed Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan's claim that the defendants are to blamed for causing her psychological trauma that has left her unable to lead a normal life. -- ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN
THE WOMAN who sued the Novena Church, two priests and six church-goers over what she described as an exorcism, has lost her case.
In a 59-page written judgment released on Friday, the High Court dismissed Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan's claim that the defendants are to blamed for causing her psychological trauma that has left her unable to lead a normal life.
The striking feature of the case is that the versions put forward by Madam Valli and her family on the one side, stands in stark contrast to the accounts of the defendants and their witnesses.
After analysing the evidence, Justice Lee Seiu Kin accepted the defendants' version and gave five broad reasons for his decision.
It boiled down to: demeanour and consistency of the witnesses on both sides; dubious evidence of Madam Valli's witnesses; contradiction of her case with contemporaneous documents; attempts by her and her husband to conceal evidence; and strong evidence corroborating the version of the defendants.
In the end, he found that the defendants did not cause her to suffer post-traumatic disorder.
The judge still noted that the one thing psychiatrists from both sides could agree upon is that she is 'very ill'.
But it is not a question for the court to answer how best she can be treated.
Woman loses exorcism case
By Selina Lum
The High Court dismissed Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan's claim that the defendants are to blamed for causing her psychological trauma that has left her unable to lead a normal life. -- ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN
THE WOMAN who sued the Novena Church, two priests and six church-goers over what she described as an exorcism, has lost her case.
In a 59-page written judgment released on Friday, the High Court dismissed Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan's claim that the defendants are to blamed for causing her psychological trauma that has left her unable to lead a normal life.
The striking feature of the case is that the versions put forward by Madam Valli and her family on the one side, stands in stark contrast to the accounts of the defendants and their witnesses.
After analysing the evidence, Justice Lee Seiu Kin accepted the defendants' version and gave five broad reasons for his decision.
It boiled down to: demeanour and consistency of the witnesses on both sides; dubious evidence of Madam Valli's witnesses; contradiction of her case with contemporaneous documents; attempts by her and her husband to conceal evidence; and strong evidence corroborating the version of the defendants.
In the end, he found that the defendants did not cause her to suffer post-traumatic disorder.
The judge still noted that the one thing psychiatrists from both sides could agree upon is that she is 'very ill'.
But it is not a question for the court to answer how best she can be treated.