Five members of the same family have been sentenced to up to eight years for their role in the death of a one-year-old girl because they believed she was possessed by an evil spirit.

The baby, known as Mehak, was almost two when she was beaten to death after her aunt ordered family members to calm the spirit so her son could do well at a chess tournament, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.
The appeal court in the Hague jailed the girl’s mother, 25-year-old Rani S and her husband Lalit K for six years.
Ringleader and ‘aunt’ Remu S was sentenced to eight years and her husband Prithvin two. But the couple will not serve jail time in the Netherlands because they have fled to India, the paper said.
A fifth member of the family, Santosh, was declared an undesirable alien and faces deportation.
The court was told that the girl’s parents and Santosh were also threatened and exploited by the older couple, who were distant family members. Rani and Lalit came to the Hague to work for their ‘aunt’ in 2006.