MOSCOW, July 15 (UPI) -- A 4-year-old Russian boy with pneumonia died during an exorcism ritual being performed by a Korean shaman, authorities said.
The family of the child had asked the female shaman and her husband to exorcise "evil spirits" they believed were affecting the boy, The Moscow Times reported Thursday.
The child stopped breathing during the ritual in the village of Sergeyevka in the far east of Russia on Saturday, the newspaper said.
No signs of violence were found on the boy's body, police said, and forensic pathologists Wednesday had not established a cause of death.
It remains possible the boy's pneumonia proved fatal, police said.
The boy arrived in Sergeyevka with relatives, including his mother, aunt, uncle and grandmother.
The family intended to request help for the grandmother, who has diabetes, but the shaman told them the entire family was jinxed and the boy had put a curse on them, a police report said.
None of the family was present in the room when the shaman performed the exorcism on the boy, police said.
