Salvadoreans cleanse their souls with an Easter whipping

Every Holy Monday in the Salvadorean town of Texistepeque, the Monday before Christians celebrate Easter, a unique tradition is enacted.

Characters representing evil, dressed in red costumes and wielding whips, run through the streets.

And they then whip anyone who crosses their path. With each lash lash the recipients cleanse their sins and purify their souls, the tradition says.

The tradition is over 100 years old and refers to passages in the Bible which describe the temptations that Jesus received in the desert and the suffering he endured resisiting them.