A pastor who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ has died after he fasted for 40 days.
Francisco Barajah, founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church in Mozambique, attempted to emulate what Jesus Christ is said to have done in the Bible.
But after 25 days without food or water, the 39-year-old had lost weight to the point where he could not stand up.
He was taken to hospital in the city of Beira, at the insistence of relatives and followers and then was diagnosed with acute anaemia and failure of his digestive organs.
He was rehydrated with serums and an attempt was made to introduce liquid foods, but it was too late and and he died on Wednesday.
The pastor was also a French teacher in the town of Messica in the central province of Manica, bordering Zimbabwe.
According to the report, the clergyman had lost a lot of weight to a point where he could not stand up, bathe or walk after 25 days of fasting.
Days later, at the insistence of relatives and believers, he was taken to a hospital but attempts to get him back to life were unsuccessful.
Church members and his neighbours have been unsurprised at the turn of events, due to his extreme weight loss and disfigured body frame prior to his death.
Members of the Santa Trindade Church said it was common for the pastor and his followers to fast, but not for that long.
