A real-life case of demonic possession is the basis of Hollywood's latest scare fest The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
NOT since The Exorcist in 1973 has a movie presented a case about exorcism as compellingly as The Exorcism Of Emily Rose.

Case is the appropriate word here since the film is primarily a courtroom drama.

A priest is charged with negligently performing an exorcism and ignoring medical treatment which leads to an afflicted girl's death.

Flashback scenes of the exorcism of the possessed girl are shown as the story unfolds. The frightening thing is that the film is based on a supposedly real case.

The girl in the movie is a fictional American named Emily Rose. The real one who suffered an unholy hell was a German girl named Anneliese Michel, who died in 1976.

Her story, taken from an Internet account, sounds absolutely terrifying.

Michel was born into a lower-middle class Catholic family from Lieblfing, Germany, on Sept 21, 1952.

In 1968, without warning, she suffered seizures and was unable to call out for her parents or three sisters. She was diagnosed as being epileptic and was admitted for treatment at a hospital.

Following the attacks, she started seeing devilish images during her daily praying and also heard voices. She told doctors that the voices were giving her orders.

In 1973, her parents requested an exorcism from various priests but were rejected on the grounds that the Church could not approve an exorcism until certain manifestations in the afflicted were met. Among which were aversions to sacred objects, speaking in a language the person had never learnt and inhuman powers.

In 1974, Pastor Ernst Alt requested permission from the Bishop of Wurzburg to perform an exorcism on Michel. The request was denied and the girl was told to observe a stricter religious lifestyle.

At her parents' house in Klingenberg (the ordeal was subsequently called The Klingenberg Case), Michel grew more bizarre. Among the acts she reportedly committed were assaulting her family, self-mutilation, eating insects, urinating on the floor, drinking urine, screaming, breaking crucifixes, destroying rosaries and defacing paintings of Jesus Christ.

In September 1975, the Bishop of Wurzburg authorised the exorcism, assigning Pastor Alt and Father Arnold Renz (Catholic exorcists usually work in pairs).

During the exorcism sessions from then to July 1976, it was determined that Michel was possessed by a number of demons which identified themselves as Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain and Adolf Hitler.

Later at the trial of the priests, recordings of the demons arguing about which one should leave the body first were played. Over 40 tapes were used in the ritual.

Strangely, during the period of her exorcism, which was very severe, Michel was still able to go to school and church when she appeared to be normal.

Unfortunately, she became increasingly frail when the attacks returned and she died on July 1, 1976. Her last words to her mother were 'Mother, I'm afraid'.

Upon her death, prosecutors began investigating the case, taking more than two years to bring it to trial. The two exorcists were charged with negligent homicide on the forensic evidence that Michel had 'starved to death'.

Psychiatrists for the prosecution testified that the priests had abetted Michel into believing she was possessed by demons by leading her to think so. The medical diagnosis was severe psychosis.

The priests and her parents were found guilty of negligent manslaughter for not applying medical treatment and for resorting to supernatural faith. They were sentenced to six months' jail and given probation.

Although a religious commission later declared that Michel was not possessed, many people believed that she was.

Eleven-and-a-half years after her death, her body was exhumed to determine that it had decayed naturally. Her grave today is a place of pilgrimage for those who believe that she had battled the devil.

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This article was first published by The Straits Times on Nov 13, 2005