OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Police are investigating a couple after they allegedly abused their seven-year-old child by trying to “exorcise” him.

“Apparently, for whatever reason, the parents believe that one of the children may have been demon-possessed, and they were trying to perform an exorcism by waterboarding the child,” MSgt. Gary Knight with Oklahoma City Police said.

According to court documents, concerned friends of the suspected couple went to police after they noticed things they didn’t look right on the child. There were “several welts on his body and head as well as bruising on his wrists.”

Witnesses even got text messages from the couple talking about exorcising demons from the boy.

“It was one child in particular that was being abused, that [the suspects] felt that was possibly possessed by demons and felt like they needed to take action to do that, and that’s when the abuse occurred,” Knight said.

When police spoke to the male suspect, they say he appeared to be under the influence of some type of drug and was acting erratic and paranoid.

The female suspect told police the boy was sometimes drugged with “benzos and cough syrup.”

“There’s indication the child may have been beaten, abused, possibly given things to help them sleep or relax while this was all going on,” Knight said.

Court documents also say the child was “placed in a laundry basket and dropped kicked.”

“He had bruises, welts on his body, appeared that he had been struck and apparently abused, mentioned he had been kicked, injuries you’d expect would go along with that kind of behavior,” Knight said.

Witnesses say they saw the little boy “blindfolded, soaked in sweat and wearing a heavy coat.” He also had a red welt on his forehead.

“We’ve confiscated a lot of evidence regarding this case,” Knight said.

Police say the children in the home have been taken into protective custody. Nobody has been arrested yet.