Panamanian authorities believe they have found a mass grave in an indigenous region. The discovery on 14 January came just hours after the rescue of 15 people who had been held by a religious sect. TVN Noticias de Panama / AFP
PANAMA CITY, Panama 鈥� Panama has sent police reinforcements to a remote indigenous village where locals have been left 鈥渢errorized鈥� by the alleged religious sacrifice of six children and a pregnant woman, authorities said on Friday.
鈥淩ight now special forces are heading鈥� to the Terron community in Ngabe Bugle department on Panama鈥檚 Caribbean coast around 250 kilometers from Panama City, said Enrique Martinez, police chief for neighboring Veraguas province.
A mass grave containing the remains of a pregnant woman and six children aged from one to 17 was found on Thursday. They had wounds consistent with being beaten.
It was discovered a day after police raided an obscure religious sect allegedly involved in brutal exorcisms, arresting 10 people and rescuing 15 others.
Police believe the victims were 鈥渢ortured and sacrificed鈥� and that the other 15 people would have been, too.
The police units, who will be flown in by helicopter, will 鈥減rovide security and tranquility to this humble population, which is currently terrorized,鈥� added Martinez.
Police are also due to remain on patrol in the area while investigating several churches to determine whether other sects operate there.
Nine of the arrested suspected sect members were placed in preventive detention by a judge Friday evening. The 10th person arrested is a minor.
They are accused of 鈥渁ggravated homicide, femicide and deprivation of liberty,鈥� the judicial branch tweeted.
Amongst the suspects is the father of the pregnant woman found in the mass grave. She was the mother of five of the six minors also found dead.
鈥淎pparently they are members of a religious sect that was involved in rituals, and they鈥檙e the ones presumed to be responsible鈥� for the deaths, said Rafael Baloyes, the top prosecutor in neighboring Bocas del Torro province.
The public security ministry named the sect as a group called 鈥淕od鈥檚 New Light.鈥�
Amongst those rescued were nine children and two pregnant women that were treated for burns and injuries caused by beatings, authorities said.
Domingo Gonzalez, who had managed to escape the sect, told the local TVN-2 channel that he saw a man beating his own son, who had been stripped naked by members of the sect.
鈥淭hey started hitting him with the bible and a closed fist,鈥� said Gonzalez.
鈥淭hey grabbed him (by the neck) and told him: 鈥榙rive out the demon you have inside you鈥�.鈥�
The rituals took place on a ranch that was surrounded by dense vegetation making it invisible to the outside world.
鈥淲e are faced with a region with a population that is particularly vulnerable and with little State presence to prevent these type of situations,鈥� political scientist Claire Nevache told AFP.
She said Panama has lax laws regarding the establishment of cults, as long as they are Christian.
The latest discoveries come after the December 5 arrests of 17 foreign nationals, alleged members of another religious sect, in an operation carried out in the coastal town of San Carlos, about 45 miles west of the capital.