The Harm

Woman beaten up for ‘witchcraft’

AJMER: Over 20 people beat a 75-year-old woman mercilessly on Wednesday in a Rajasthan village accusing her of practising witchcraft.

The incident took place at Danta village, 10 km from Ajmer. Jamuna Devi sustained multiple injuries and has been hospitalised.

Police, who registered a case against her assailants, said 10 of them have been identified. The accused have fled the village.

“I don’t want to return home until the culprits are arrested,” said Jamuna Devi. Jamuna’s son Govardhan said people armed with sticks attacked his mother in a nearby field.

According to police, the elderly woman had been blamed for the illness. “Preliminary investigations say Sita had given birth to a baby two months back and has been unwell since then.”

Sita’s husband took her to a tantrik, who said Jamuna had done black magic on Sita and only Jamuna can rescue Sita by spitting on her face. When Sita’s family asked Jamuna to do as the tantrik had suggested, she refused. This provoked the family, who beat her black and blue.” said the investigationg officer.

This world is depressing.

Eight Orissa villagers tortured over sorcery

Bhubaneswar, April 24 (IANS) Suspecting them to be sorcerers and responsible for sickness in the village, residents of an Orissa village beat up eight fellow villagers, used hammers to extract their teeth and made them eat human excreta. The incident occurred at Gereda village in the southern district of Ganjam, some 185 km from here, Monday but came to light after police officials visited the spot Wednesday.

Some villagers had fallen ill recently. Believing this to be due to witchcraft, people of the village asked a tantric or black magician to identify those practicing sorcery.

The tantric identified eight villagers, sub divisional police officer Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra told IANS.

A group of around 30 people took the men to a temple where they beat them, used a hammer to extract two teeth from each before subjecting them to the final ignominy of forcing them to eat human excreta, he said.

One of the victims filed a complaint with the police. On his complaint, one of the villagers involved was nabbed while the others are absconding, said Mohapatra, who went to the village.

The village has a population of about 2,000 mostly tribal people, he said.

Sorcery and witchcraft related crimes are very common in Orissa. Many people, including tribals, believe that witchcraft is the reason behind their problems.

A belief in magic and witchcraft and people suffer.

‘Penis Thefts’ Cause Panic In The Congo

Congolese police have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of stealing men’s penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by reports of the witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa.

Belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts are known to take place.

Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital of 8 million people.

They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold ring

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear.

Some residents said the so-called witch doctors would then demand money in return for a cure.

“You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you,” said Kinshasa’s police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko.

“We’ve had a number of attempted lynchings. You see (the victims accused of being penis-snatchers) covered in marks after being beaten.”

Lynchings and arrests of innocent people cause people give in to panic and a belief in magic and witchcraft.

Woman beaten up after charges of witchcraft

surat, April 07 An elderly woman of Dahen village in Olpad taluka was severely beaten up by a youth on Sunday for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

Assaulted with an axe, the woman sustained severe injuries on her limbs and head. She is now undergoing treatment at the New Civil Hospital in Surat, where her condition is reported to be stable.

On Sunday evening, Chiman Rathod, also a resident of Dahen, went to Hansha’s house and attacked her accusing her of practicing witchcraft. Chiman also told her that she was responsible for the death of his elder brother Mohan Rathod. After the assault, Chiman fled the village.

Kalawati shouted for help and called in the neighbours who immediately rushed Hansha to the hospital. They also informed the Olpad police which registered a case against Chiman and arrested him in the afternoon.

Sub-Inspector H M Suthar said: “We arrested the accused from his house. During interrogation, we learnt there was some old dispute between Hansha and Chiman, which resulted in the incident.”

He added that Chiman’s elder brother, Mohan died two months ago due to severe illness. Mohan’s family members, including Chiman, suspected that Hansha was involved in witchcraft.

Igunga police kill, hold 14 over witchcraft saga

Police in Igunga have shot dead a 20-year old youth and are holding 14 people in connection with mob violence in which the Igunga Police Station was burned.

Tabora Regional Police Commander Muhudi Mshihiri confirmed the death of Shaaban Sombe alias John Sombe, a fresh drinks distributor, but declined to name those being held by the police.

The regional police chief said an angry mob of more than a thousand people, holding stones, laid siege on the police station on Thursday, threatening to killing two women, Hawa Athman and Malizia Ramadhani, residents of Nkokoto Street in Igunga. Their neighbours accuse them of practising witchcraft , prompting the police to put them under protective custody.

Commander Mshihiri said the people entered two police living quarters, breaking doors and windows where fearful family members had locked themselves in.

“The police fired teargas and plastic bullets, but had to open fire when their effort to disperse the people failed.“

Is it just me or are these story’s become more and more ridiculous?

Mothers charged of murder in ‘witchcraft’ torching

Malawi Police has pressed murder charge to two mothers for burning their children to death in a ritual to exorcise demons.

Chifundo Chibwezo, Police spokesperson for Limbe Police Unit in the commercial city of Blantyre said Agness Kamanga-Gadama, 30, and Catherine Kamanga, 23 have been charged with murder for allegedly torching to death two children - aged three and seven - to exorcise them of “witchcraft”.

“We have charged them with murder,” said Chibwezo. “They both deny the charge,” he said.

Police arrested the women, members of the Assemblies of God church, after being tipped off by villagers who became suspicious of the smoke and noises from the house occupied by the sisters.

The suspects had locked up a total of four children in a squattertown house for a week to “pray and fast to cast out demons”.

The children allegedly confessed to practicing witchcraft.

“The women insist their children had demons that needed exorcising,” said Limbe Police Unit spokesman.

The two children who died on the spot were aged three and seven years, the police said.

Woman accused of witchcraft in Bihar

In a shocking example of lawlessness in Bihar, a woman was beaten mercilessly in front of a crowd in a village near Patna.

The woman, villagers claim, was involved in witchcraft. However, she rebuffed the allegations but the crowd ignored her denials.

Forty-five year-old Lalpari Devi of Naubatpur village in Patna had gone to Adalchak Dumaria village on Thursday for treating one Manorama Rai, who was suffering from mental ailment, police sources said.

But as Manorama’s condition deteriorated during the treatment, her husband Ramayodhya Rai got angry with Lalpari and tortured her along with the neighbours.

Describing her ordeal, Lalpari Devi said, ”They beat me brutally and called police. They tied me with a rope and made me walk through the village.”

She further added that the villagers cut her hair and burnt it, tied her to the tree and beat her up. ”I am not a thief but they did this to me. I have not done anything,” she said.

The villagers then tonsured her head and smeared her face with limestone.

Police soon reached the scene and rescued Lalpari. She was admitted to a hospital from where she was discharged on Friday.

Police have filed an FIR and arrested Ramayodhya Rai. (With PTI inputs)

Accused Witch Beaten in Eastern India

PATNA, India (AP) - A woman accused of practicing witchcraft in eastern India was tied to a tree and beaten by enraged villagers, police said Friday.

Lalpari Devi was attacked Wednesday in a village on the outskirts of Patna, the capital of Bihar state, local police official Nishant Tiwary told The Associated Press.

Tiwary said Devi claimed to be a faith healer and was treating a mentally ill woman in the village. When the woman attempted to commit suicide, Devi was attacked by angry villagers, Tiwary said.

He said Devi was tied to a tree with rope and repeatedly beaten. Her hair was then cut off and she was paraded through the village, Tiwary said. A video of the attack was aired Friday by New Delhi Television.

Ram Ayodhya Rai, the mentally ill woman’s husband, was arrested and charged with assault, Tiwari said. He added that police have started an investigation to find out how many other villagers were involved in the assault.

Devi is being investigated for fraud, Tiwary said.

Rural areas in India remain deeply superstitious, despite the country’s economic progress in recent years. Many people believe in black magic and dozens of people are beaten or killed every year for practicing witchcraft.

The price if the beliefe in magic.

Thanks to Amanda at Skepchick I bring you this.

Gracia likes watching television - mostly soaps and cartoons, but sometimes the news.

The young woman, tall and thin with braided hair coiled on her head, is doing well at school and wants to be a doctor.

She had been sent back to DR Congo by her father and step-mother, after living with them in Tottenham, north London, for several years.

She is thought to be among hundreds of African children living in the UK and sent back to DR Congo or Angola after being accused of witchcraft.

Traumatised

The issue came to light in the summer of 2005, when a court in London heard the case of a young girl who was tortured after being accused of being possessed.

The jury learnt a new word, kindoki. It is what the Congolese call witchcraft.

After I first reported on Gracia’s plight in Kinshasa, one listener was so moved she began sending money to support the girl.

Now, Gracia lives with her aunt and can afford school fees.

Inside her home there is a television and three sofas, and her mother has come to visit.

Gracia tells me how thankful she is for the financial help she has received, and talks about her favourite lessons, living with her aunt, and the holidays.

But when I ask her to tell me what led her father and step-mother to accuse her of witchcraft, she does not reply.

Often these accusations can be a way of ridding a family of an extra mouth to feed.

Gracia is “very traumatised”, says Adolphine Kumbaki, who runs a charity called Bantu Cocorico, which has been helping to look after Gracia.

“To say a child is a witch is very, very dangerous,” she says, and many such children are abandoned.

Aid agencies think that the most of the 13,000 children sleeping rough in Kinshasa have been accused of kindoki.

Stigma

Gracia’s mother says that even though life is much better for her daughter, her daughter longs to return to London.

Asked if London or Kinshasa feels like home, Gracia replies simply: “London.”

“I don’t like being here, I don’t like the schools here, I don’t want to stay here,” she says.

Gracia is doing well at school, and wants to be a doctor

Her mother says she would like Gracia to return to the UK.

“She isn’t happy, she always thinks of returning,” she says.

A child must suffer cause of the crazy beliefs of her parents.

Search for “witch” at All Africa.com

Witch Hunts in Java Called a Cover for Murders
Suspected witch killed by kin in Gujarat village
Witch killings in India

In the modern world you’d think that the idea of a witch would be relegated to fiction but its not. Even in the modern would people are killed for being a “witch”.
In some places in Africa where there are beliefs in witchcraft, it is believed that witches are not responsible for being a witch, they are possessed by evil spirits and those spirits must be exorcised but they then banished from the villages even though the “evil spirit” has been “exorcised” and it wasn’t there fault.
The parts of the world where these atrocity’s happen are parts where belief in magic, spirits, demons and spells still exists. These are the basis for the belief in witchcraft. If you believe in magic, you believe that people can use magic to harm others, if you believe in spirits and demons you believe that people can use them to harm others and that is essentially what witchcraft is.