A New York City man has slapped a local pastor with a lawsuit claiming a botched religious cleansing to cure his mental illness cost him his right leg, the New York Daily News reported.
Seungick Chung, who is schizophrenic, is suing Grace Road Church senior pastor Ok-Joo Shin for $6 million after he developed gangrene following the 2012 incident at the church's location in a rented house in Flushing, Queens.
As part of the cleansing, Chung's wrists and knees were duct-taped to a chair or bed in the house's basement over a period of 10 days - which the pastor supervised, the personal injury lawsuit filed Wednesday claims. His screams were muffled by a sock or towel that was also duct-taped over his mouth, according to court records reviewed by the Daily News.
Chung's right leg eventually swelled and turned black and he was taken to a dermatologist. Experts diagnosed it as a case of gangrene, which occurs when the body tissue dies due to lack of blood flow or infection, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Doctors called police after most of the 27-year-old's right leg was amputated.
Shin's attorney did not return the newspaper's request for comment.
"She's considered a deity by her followers who believe that she has lots of powers such that she could cleanse this young man of his mental illness," Marisa Bellair, Chung's lawyer, told the Daily News.
Chung was also led to believe he would be cured if he gave up his medication, which allegedly did more damage to his mental state. He now lives in a nursing center, his legal guardian, Sung-Ho Hwang, told the newspaper.
Though not named in the lawsuit, the plaintiff's sister, Myung Chung, and her fiancé were found guilty of reckless endangerment in 2013. The couple, who are members of Grace Road, were sentenced to almost a year in jail.
