By Selina Lum

A WOMAN who says she was traumatised by a forced exorcism may have gone 'shopping' for a doctor to back up her claims, an emergency-room doctor testified on Tuesday.

Dr Yap Eng Soo said it was 'a bit odd' that Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan visited several doctors after an alleged exorcism at the Novena Church in Aug 2004.

Quizzed by a defence lawyer, he agreed that the 52-year-old, who has a history of going into trances, may have staged the church incident and gone looking for a doctor to back up her story.

Madam Valli has sued the Redemptorist Order that runs the church, two priests and six churchgoers for allegedly forcing the exorcism on her. She is seeking compensation, claiming that the incident left her traumatised.

The defence has tried to establish that she was faking her symptoms.

Within two days of the incident, Madam Valli went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) twice; her regular clinic four times; and was sent to the National University Hospital in an ambulance.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.