You hear this kind of news all the time; an independent or strong willed woman is deemed to be possessed, and an exorcism ceremony is performed, usually resulting in tragedy. Here is such a tragic tale, this time coming out of New Zealand. Five people were arrested and found guilty of the manslaughter of Janet Moses, but not one of these people will be facing any jail time. They were given 300 hours of community service (what, so they can do more fucking waterboarding?), and are being supervised for the next 12 months.

The accused are all Maori, the indigenous natives of Polynesian descent who first settled in New Zealand. According to their religious traditions, the existence of demons and witchcraft is thought to be real. They were convinced that the victim, Ms Janet Moses, was possessed by a whanau (demon), and that she had a makutu (curse) after stealing a statue from a local hotel. The five exorcists decided to pour water down her nose and mouth in an effort to banish it. She drowned as a result.

I can’t imagine anyone else getting off with such a light sentence for such a crime. The judge must have felt that since their intent was not to harm the woman but rather to “cure” her, this extenuating circumstance merited such an anemic sentence. Personally, I wish the judge had thrown the book at them. We don’t need more uneducated and superstitious idiots running around exorcising people against their will. We also don’t need these same morons getting a slap on the wrist for killing a fellow human being.