KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysia court on Friday charged 7 family members, including the parents, of a nearly three-year-old girl who suffocated to death in a suspected exorcism ritual earlier this month. According to the court, Chua Seng Ban and his three-month-pregnant wife Lim She Lee, both 35-years-old, pleaded not guilty to charges of causing the death of Chua Wan Zuen, at their home in the northern town of Bukit Mertajam. The five other family members, who face a maximum two-year jail sentence and a fine if convicted, also pleaded not guilty. Police chief Azman Abdul Lah said police raided a house in the northern Penang state after receiving a distress call from a relative and found a group of 8 people lying on top of the girl in a bedroom. He reported the girl was lying face down under the human pile, which comprised her parents, grandmother, uncle, aunt, two cousins and their Indonesian maid. He said the room was dark and that chanting could be heard from under a blanket covering the group. Azman said that the girl, who was ethnic Chinese, died of suffocation.
