A CATHOLIC bishop will pour holy water over a city from a helicopter to carry out an “exorcism” on “demons”.

Ruben Dario Jaramillo Montoya wants to use his position as Bishop of Buenaventura, in Columbia, to purge the streets of evil.

Montoya told local radio station Blu Radio: “We want to go around the whole of Buenaventura, from the air, and pour holy water onto it to see if we exorcise and get out all those demons that are destroying our port, so that God’s blessing comes and gets rid of all the wickedness that is in our streets.”

Local media report the National Army support the bishop’s plan and have offered him the use of a helicopter to carry it out.

The bishop said: “Buenaventura should have the Devil taken away so that we can see if we can get back the tranquillity the city has lost with all this crime, wickedness and the drug trafficking that is hitting our port.”

It is said that the exorcism will take place between July 13 and 14, during a local festival.

Between January and May this year, 51 homicides were reported in the city, 20 more than in the same period last year.

The latest murder in the city shocked the country when Diana Tatiana Rodriguez, 10, was found with clear signs of having been tortured and sexually abused.

Her uncle, Jhon Edwar Quintero Urquiza was arrested and reportedly confessed to the crime.

Buenaventura is one of the municipalities which was worst hit by the armed conflict in Colombia.

The municipality turned into a strategic spot for the drug route to the United States.

In 2010, a car bomb attack killed nine people injured more than 20.