Francisco Barajah, a 39-year-old Mozambican preacher, died on Wednesday after attempting to imitate Jesus Christ’s biblical feat of fasting for 40 days without food or water.
Francisco Barajah, the founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church and a French teacher in the border town of Messica, had fasted for 25 days before his relatives and followers took him to hospital due to his declining health.
When Francisco Barajah arrived at the hospital, he was diagnosed with extreme anaemia and organ failure. He is said to have lost so much weight that he could no longer stand.
According to a BBC report, attempts to replenish the pastor’s fluids with serums and liquid nourishment were unsuccessful, as he passed away a few hours after being admitted to the medical center.
The late pastor’s religious flock said that it was common for him to fast but not for such long periods of time.
Marques Manuel Barajah, the brother to the deceased, however, maintained that his brother passed away owing to low blood pressure.
The pastor was also a French teacher in the town of Messica in the central province of Manica, bordering Zimbabwe.