New York, June 20: A New York City woman has been accused of burning her 6-year-old daughter during a voodoo ritual and then ignoring her cries for help and sending her to bed.
Prosecutors say Marie Lauradin poured a flammable liquid over her daughter during a Haitian practice known as Loa and made her stand naked in a ring of fire, engulfing her in flames.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says Lauradin and the girl’s grandmother washed her and put her to bed despite life-threatening burns over 25 per cent of her body. He says another relative found her the next day.
Lauradin was ordered held on US$50,000 bail at her arraignment on assault and child endangerment charges related to the Feb. 4 incident. defence attorney Jeff Cohen says she denies the allegations.
The grandmother faces a later arraignment.
The girl went into foster care.
–Agencies–