A three year old girl was killed in an apparent exorcism ritual performed by her parents and relatives at their home in Taman Bukit Minyak, Bukit Mertajam, last night.

Police rushed to the house on being alerted by the girl's uncle and found her lifeless body underneath the bodies of eight members of the family including an Indonesian maid.

Seberang Perai Tengah police chief ACP Azman Abdullah said police had to break open the door shortly after arriving at the house at 10pm and found the suspects pinning the victim down with their bodies to ward off evil spirits.

He added that the child died shortly before police arrived as her body was still warm when they found her.
   
The parents, a grandmother, an uncle, an aunt, two cousins of the victim and the Indonesian maid were arrested.

The suspects aged between 16 and 67 have been remanded for five days.

Police were treating the case as murder.