Possessed German Woman, Who Went Through 67 Catholic Exorcism, Ate Spiders And Barked Like Dogs

Real life horror stories often go viral on social media. One such story is that of a young woman, who believed she was possessed. It is so scary that many Hollywood films were made about it. Today, let’s take a look at the horrifying story of this teenage girl, who was apparently possessed by a ghost. According to reports, this unique story is that of a girl named Anneliese Michel, who got possessed at the age of 16. She initially suffered a paralytic attack, followed by epileptic seizures. Soon she started feeling that she was possessed by demons and her behaviour started changing. Reports suggest, after this, she was diagnosed with depression and treated in a psychiatric hospital. At the age of 20, she had developed intolerance for numerous religious things and began to hear voices.

Her illness deteriorated despite medicine and she became suicidal. Along with this, she also started exhibiting other symptoms, for which she also took medication. After five years of taking psychiatric medications, she did not get better. So, Michel and her family became convinced that she was possessed by a demon.

As a result, her family asked the Catholic Church for an exorcism. They refused at first, then two priests received authorisation from the local bishop in 1975. After this, priests began performing exorcisms, and the parents stopped attending physicians. With time, Anneliese Michel stopped eating and later died from malnutrition and dehydration after 67 exorcisms.

During the time of possession, it is said she even started eating spiders and barking like dogs.

Reports say Michel died at her home on July 1, 1976. The postmortem report showed that the cause of death was malnutrition and dehydration as a result of nearly a year of starvation, while the exorcism rituals were done. She weighed 30 kilos (66 lb), suffered broken knees from continuous genuflections, was unable to move without assistance, and was reported to have contracted pneumonia.

Following this, Michel’s parents and two Roman Catholic priests were found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months in prison (later reduced to three years of probation) and a fine. Several years later, German bishops, in a conference, retracted the claim that she was possessed.

Later, this story was adapted into various films, including The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Requiem (2006), and Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes (2011).