They are said to have tortured a 22-year-old woman in an alleged expulsion of the devil with salt water - with fatal consequences.
In a case of alleged exorcism around five years ago, the trial of four defendants began at the Berlin district court.
The husband, his parents and an "Islamic faith healer" are charged with collective bodily harm resulting in death.
According to the investigators' findings, the woman should be "treated" against her childlessness with a harmful and ultimately fatal dose of table salt in the water.
The relatives are said to have forced her to follow the advice of the healer (a so-called hodschas) between November 30 and December 7, 2015 in an apartment in Berlin-Tempelhof to the alleged cure.
She had to take one and a half liters of water a day that was fortified with up to 64 grams of table salt.
The relatives would have known that the 22-year-old had a previous illness and at the time of the crime also suffered from a febrile infection, according to the prosecution.
The young woman did not want to drink the water at first because of the bad taste.
However, she bowed to the will of the accused, who had suggested to her that "it helps to cleanse the body".
Heart, brain and kidneys increasingly damaged
The woman was noticeably worse shortly after the "drinking sessions" began, the prosecution said.
The heart, brain and kidneys were increasingly damaged by the high sodium dose.
When she could no longer drink herself, "they held her by the arms and made her drink," the prosecution said.
She died in hospital on December 7, 2015 after unsuccessful attempts at resuscitation of a pulmonary embolism and cerebral edema.
The defendants who have not been arrested are from Lebanon.
The three men have German citizenship, which of the 57-year-old woman has not been clarified.
The defendants between the ages of 35 and 58 were silent during the preliminary investigation or rejected the allegations, it said on the sidelines of the trial.
After the indictment had been read out, one of the defense lawyers requested that the proceedings be suspended because of the corona pandemic.
Due to previous illnesses among individual participants, the negotiation should be carried out at a later date in view of the "dramatic corona situation", he demanded.
Other defense lawyers joined the motion.
The court wants to decide by the second day of the trial on November 9th.
Icon: The mirror
wit / dpa / AFP