A court in the Bocas del Toro Province of Panama sentenced seven people to 50 years for killing six children and a pregnant woman in a sectarian ritual, the province's attorney general Humberto Rodriguez Batista said
MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2021) A court in the Bocas del Toro Province of Panama sentenced seven people to 50 years for killing six children and a pregnant woman in a sectarian ritual, the province's attorney general Humberto Rodriguez Batista said.
"Each of the seven people is accused of premeditated femicide, murder with aggravating circumstances and illegal imprisonment. (They) were sentenced to 50 years in prison," Batista said.
The prosecutor noted that two others had previously been sentenced to 47 years under similar charges.
The religious massacre took place in January 2020. Local police were alerted by three people who managed to escape from the people carrying out the ritual. It was later revealed that the religious sect known as The New Light of God was carrying out a ritual that saw indigenous residents tortured and beaten by 10 lay preachers of the sect in a bid to make them repent their sins. If the victims did not repent, they would be murdered.
The victims of the cultists were five children of varying ages, some as young as one year old, their pregnant mother and their 17-year old female neighbor. It was later revealed that the leader of the sect was the childrens' grandfather.
