The Witch Killers

[Mighty_Emperor]

41 'witches' murdered in 4 years in Orissa village

By Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar
Monday, 27 September , 2004, 09:36

The tribal-dominated Sundargarh district of Orissa has been consistently reporting murder of persons suspected to be 'witches'.

......

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13575783

More witch attacks there although it does sound like some people are using it as an exucse:

Posted on 15 Nov 2005 # ANI

Four women forced to consume human excreta in Orissa

Uparkhandadhar (Orissa), Nov.14 : In a revolting incident of superstition some villagers in Uparkhandadhar village of Sundergarh district in Orissa allegedly forced four women accused of being witches to eat human excreta under the disguise of witches. The police have arrested eight persons, including two women for this heinous action.

These four women were locked in a room for three days by six men and two women. They were allegedly forced to pay a fine of 500 rupees each and forced to consume human excreta.

“They beat us with a bible and said we were lying and that we are practicing witchcraft. They also fined us for it and forced us to consume human excreta,” said Kapri, one of the victim.

According to police, the four women were tortured as they were accused of practicing sorcery and spreading disease in the village.

“Our police team rushed to the spot and rescued the four women. We also filed cases against the two women and eight men accused of branding four women as witches. We also filed a Court challan against them,” said Bibudhendu Ku Aich, Officer In Charge, Lahunipara.

The Government of Orissa has a law against aiding and abetting witchcraft.

In 1999, the Government also passed an act against witchcraft, “Witch Prohibition Act-1999”, according to which six months imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 rupees can be imposed on a person found guilty of torturing innocent women.

Surprisingly, in most cases the practitioners of witchcraft as well as their victims are women.

While cases of women practicing the occult is known, in most cases it is innocent women who are branded as witches and subjected to torture and even death.

www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=52672

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Indian 'witchcraft' family killed

A family of five has been beheaded in Sonitpur district, north-east India, by a mob who accused them of witchcraft.

The tea plantation worker and his four children had been blamed for causing a disease which killed two other workers and made many unwell in Assam state.

About 200 villagers tried and sentenced the family in an unofficial court, then publicly beheaded them with machetes.

They then marched to a police station with the heads, chanting slogans denouncing witchcraft and black magic.

'Pregnant wife fled'

The incident occurred at the Sadharu tea plantation near the town of Biswanath Charali, about 300 km (190 miles) north of Guwahati, Assam's main city.

Sixty-year-old Amir Munda, who was killed alongside his two daughters and two sons, was reportedly a traditional healer.

After two plantation workers died and many others became ill from mysterious illness, other members of the Adivasi Santhal community accused him and his family of being the cause.

"A trial was held to prove if Munda and his family were involved in casting evil spells in the tea garden that led to a bout of epidemics in the area," police officer D Das said. "They said the killings would appease the gods.

"Munda's pregnant wife and her three young children managed to escape before the mob killed the other members of the family," A Hazarika, a local police official, told AFP.

Six people were arrested for the killings, Mr Hazarika said.

According to police records, some 200 people have been killed in Assam in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 822750.stm

Published: 2006/03/19 14:42:56 GMT

© BBC MMVI

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Re: Cornwall "satanic murder" arest made...dont se

"A woman has appeared before magistrates in Truro charged with the murder of parish councillor Peter Solheim.
Margaret James from Porthoustock near St Keverne, is charged with murdering Mr Solheim with a person or persons unknown, and conspiracy to murder.

The 56 year old, who was Mr Solheim's long term partner, spoke only to confirm her name, age and address and was remanded in custody until 4 March"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4297007.stm

This one has rattled on for ages and finally draws to a close - it all seems so petty in the end doesn't it?

Pagan gran occult 'killer'

By JOHN COLES

A WOMAN drugged, mutilated and killed her Pagan lover at sea to stop him marrying his mistress, a jury heard yesterday.

Jealous Margaret James, 57, shared an interest in the occult, magic and sex with wealthy parish councillor Peter Solheim.

But the slightly-built gran plotted to harm him for years because of love rival Jean Knowles, who Mr Solheim met three times a month for sex.

James asked about hiring a hitman and studied books about potions and poisons then drew up a list of their effects.

Prosecutor Sarah Munro QC told jurors at Truro Crown Court, Cornwall: “Do not be fooled by this diminutive lady in the dock. We submit she has a heart of stone.”

James lured her lover to sea in his boat where she gave him a powerful sedative and then smashed or cut off parts of his body, the court heard.

She ripped her lover’s ring off his finger and replaced it with her own before dumping him overboard five miles off The Lizard in Cornwall.

A jury heard that James must have had help but no one else has been charged.

Mr Solheim’s dinghy Izzwizz was found adrift and James planned to make his death look like a boating accident but his body was found by a trawler called Clairvoyant.

Miss Munro said Mr Solheim, 56, suffered “a gruesome death” in June 2004.

She said: “Having been sedated by a stupefying drug named Lorazepam, his head and the joints of several of his limbs were targeted with blunt and sharp weapons either when he was dead or on the brink of death.

“His mutilated body was then dumped miles out at sea.”

Mr Solheim, a retired printer who dealt in antique weapons and pornography, was held captive at a mystery location for two days before his death.

James sent texts from his mobile to make it look like he was on a fishing trip in France or Spain.

But phone records showed his mobile was still at home in Carnkie, Cornwall.

The couple met through a lonely hearts column eight or nine years before and were virtually living together at Mr Solheim’s home, called Valhalla after the Viking resting place.

Miss Munro said: “They shared interests in paganism and magic and sex.

“They liked to watch sunsets together and go to beaches together and they shared an interest in pills and potions and also an interest in cash.”
*

But they spied on each other as Mr Solheim juggled his two lovers. On one occasion he sent Mrs Knowles, 63, a text saying he was doing DIY when he was on a seven-hour boat and beach romp with James.

Afterwards he noted in his calendar: “Boating. Sh*g on beach. Rosemullion.”

The court heard James stole a large amount of cash from her lover. After his death £900 was found under her mattress with a note saying “what goes around comes around.” Police also allegedly found £24,000 in cash at the home of James’ mother.

Miss Munro told the court: “Her motives were a combination of hatred, jealousy, revenge and a desire to get her hands on his money.”

James, of Porthoustock, Cornwall, denies murder and conspiracy to murder. Trial continues.

www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006190263,00.html

 

[ramonmercado]

'Witchcraft' families killed

The police in India's north-eastern state of Assam say five people have been killed by tribals who suspected them of practising witchcraft. Santhal tribesmen killed two couples and a teenage girl in two separate incidents in the Kokrajhar district.

The villagers said the couple were practising witchcraft and harming fellow tribes people, the police said. Analysts say villagers are often accused of witchcraft to settle personal and land disputes.

Originally from central India, the Santhal tribes people were brought to Assam during British rule to work in the tea gardens.

Real reasons

The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Delhi says the Santhals are generally found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam and it is quite common among them to attack people they suspect of practising witchcraft.

One study shows a number of cases in West Bengal and Assam where certain families have been attacked by rivals within the community for practising witchcraft and their land taken away after the killings.

"The Santhals fear witches and believe great harm can be done by them," says the study by senior police officer Asit Baran Choudhury.

"So anyone accused of practising witchcraft can come in for severe punishment and this is often manipulated for settling personal scores," he says.

According to police records, some 200 people have been killed in Assam in the past five years for allegedly practising witchcraft.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5277198.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

Kenya: Leaders Condemn Killing of 'Witches'

Kenya: Leaders Condemn Killing of 'Witches'

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

February 25, 2007
Posted to the web February 26, 2007

Philip Mbaji And Elizabeth Awuor
Nairobi

Religious leaders from Coast Province on Sunday condemned the killing of suspected witches and called on residents to desist from the act.

As the religious leaders called on the Mijikenda to discard outdated cultural practices, tension in the area remained high.


Panic gripped people, especially the elderly, who feared being fingered by witchdoctors - who are calling themselves 'ghost busters' - as being witches.

The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), the Catholic Church and the Council of Imam and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) have raised concerns over the increasing cases of lynching of suspected witches in the province.

Mombasa Diocese's Bishop Julius Kalu condemned the practice, saying it was against the biblical teaching and even the Mijikenda traditions to 'kill someone over witchcraft suspicion'.

"It is against the principle of peaceful co-existence to lynch someone for suspecting them of witchcraft," Kalu said.

Kalu of ACK made the remarks at Mombasa's Memorial Cathedral Church as CIPK's national secretary general, Sheikh Mohammed Dor, urged residents to refer suspects to religious leaders and council of elders.

Said Dor: "This is an unfortunate trend that has its remedy on the residents referring suspected witches to religious leaders or council of elders for arbitration instead of killing them."

They spoke barely two days after police officers, a DC, DOs and chiefs narrowly escaped lynching by irate villagers in Malindi while on a mission to rescue suspected witches from a ghost buster.

Kalu, expressed fear that tension would build up in the area should the so-called ghost busters be allowed to continue operating in the area.

Bishop Boniface Lele of the Mombasa Catholic Diocese condemned the attacks and advised the villagers to face their problems and accept suffering as part of life.

Speaking to The Standard, Lele asked villagers to report suspects to the police and later have them questioned in court instead of lynching them.

"Nobody should lynch another because the whole thing is suspicion and the best way to handle the issue is to report such matters to the police," he said.

He advised villagers to look for solutions to their problems instead of blaming others on grounds of witchcraft.

"People should accept that suffering is part of life and not necessarily caused by witches," he added.

A ghost buster popularly known as Beba Beba was holding 25 elderly men and women in Malindi suspected to be witches when the DC attempted to rescue them.


http://allafrica.com/stories/200702260396.html

 

[synchronicity]

Has anyone else noticed that in the entire sorry history of killing witches/exorcising the possessed etc it is always the "good guys" who do the killing---not the so-called possessed, witches, or devil worshippers???

Something is seriously wrong with this picture!!! :shock:

 

[ramonmercado]

Police are following a positive line of inquiry... I wonder if will ever be charged with, let alone convicted of these murders.

SA pupils burn 'witches' to death

Two South African women have been burned to death after a group of students accused them of bewitching their high school with evil spirits.
Msaba Zungu and Thabitha Thusi, both 60, were seized from their homes near Manguzi in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Students and adults dragged them to a sports field where they were doused with petrol and set alight on Sunday.

Manhlenga High School pupils accused the women of being witches after they began to suffer strange crying fits.

Investigators said Ms Zungu died at the scene and Ms Thusi succumbed to her burns injuries on Monday.

Police captain Jabulani Mdletshe told the BBC News website: "On 17 August, the students at the mixed high school began to cry randomly and they did not know why.

"The students held a couple of meetings and allegedly decided the problem was these two women were witches who had cast a bad muthi (spell) on the school.

"At 8pm on Sunday, some students and community members allegedly took the women from their homes to a football field and set them on fire."

No arrests have been made but police are following a positive line of inquiry, said Capt Mdletshe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6980439.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

Papua New Guinea Officials Report Another Murder Following Accusations Of Witchcraft, Spreading HIV
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134893.php
09 Jan 2009

Officials in Papua New Guinea on Wednesday reported that a woman had been burnt alive at the stake after reportedly being accused of witchcraft, which often is linked to AIDS-related deaths in the country, AFP/Arab Times reports (AFP/Arab Times, 1/7). Papua New Guinea's Post Courier reports that there was speculation the woman was practicing sorcery or adultery, or had transmitted HIV to one of the suspects (Muri, Post Courier, 1/7). According to AFP/Arab Times, reports in recent years of women being tortured and killed after being accused of witchcraft have been linked with increasing AIDS-related deaths in the country. Witchcraft often is cited as the cause of death among some young people that village residents "have seen as otherwise inexplicable," AFP/Arab Times reports (AFP/Arab Times, 1/7).

Researchers with the Australian Center for Independent Studies in 2007 released a report that found that many women were being accused of practicing witchcraft to cause AIDS-related deaths among young people and, as a result, the women were tortured or murdered. The report estimated that there had been 500 such attacks in the previous year. According to a 2007 United Nations report, Papua New Guinea accounts for 90% of HIV cases in the Oceania region. High levels of sexual violence against women and inadequate access to sex education has contributed to the spread of the virus, according to the U.N. report. An estimated 60,000 people in the country were living with HIV in 2005 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/25/07).

According to Reuters, women in Papua New Guinea's Highlands often are blamed for spreading HIV, killed for having extramarital affairs and accused of practicing sorcery. Witnesses reported that the woman was between ages 16 and 20 (Perry, Reuters, 1/6).

 

[ramonmercado]

PNG to act on 'sorcery murders'

Policing tight-knit traditional communities can be difficult
Authorities in Papua New Guinea say they will toughen laws against murders blamed on sorcery, after a surge of them during the past year.

The chairman of the Constitutional Review and Law Reform Commission said defendants were using accusations of witchcraft as an excuse to kill people.

Police say at least 50 people were killed last year across the country.

In the latest suspected incident, a young woman accused of being a witch was burnt at the stake last week.

Correspondents say deaths and mysterious illnesses are sometimes blamed on evil curses and suspected sorcerers are often blamed and then killed.

Prosecuting those who kill these so-called magic makers within tight-knit communities is problematic, they add, and rural courts often acquit those who are made to stand trial.



"It's the easy way out for someone to kill somebody else, and use sorcery as an excuse," the head of the law reform commission, Joe Mek Teine, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"And you would find that the victim is totally innocent."

Mr Mek Teine told local media that the new legislation would force rural courts to charge those accused of sorcery-related killings with premeditated murder.

"It is a problem that has been existing in the country before the arrival of Western influence, and it's deeply rooted," he told the Post-Courier newspaper last week.

"The churches have done a lot to improve it but it's getting worse every time," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7825511.stm

 

[rynner2]

New leads in councillor's murder

Police investigating the murder of a 56-year-old Cornish man whose body was found by fishermen five years ago are following up new lines of inquiry.

The mutilated body of Peter Solheim, a parish councillor from Carnkie, was found five miles off-shore in 2004.

His ex-lover, Margaret James, 58, from Porthoustock, was found guilty of conspiring to murder him and jailed for 20 years in 2006.

Police say they believe other people were involved in Mr Solheim's murder.

A reward offered by Crimestoppers for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for his murder has been doubled to £10,000.

Mr Solheim's body was found floating in the sea south east of Black Head, on the Lizard, on 18 June 2004. He had last been seen alive two days earlier .

The father-of-two, who was a pagan and member of the druid community, had been drugged and mutilated with a machete or axe before he died from drowning.

During an 11 week trial at Truro Crown Court the prosecution said that Margaret James, who had embarked on a nine year relationship with Mr Solheim after meeting through a lonely hearts column, feared he was about to leave her.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said that several new leads had been identified following a detailed review of the evidence which would be investigated over the coming weeks.

Detective Inspector Stuart Ellis said: "It has always been our case that there were other people involved in the murder of Mr Solheim and they have not yet been brought to justice.

"There are still unresolved issues in this case and, following a review of all the evidence, we are actively pursuing positive new lines of enquiry.

"We are very keen to speak to anyone who may be able to help us with this investigation either directly or through Crimestoppers in the strictest confidence."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7882153.stm

 

[rynner2]

Two arrests in councillor murder

Two people have been arrested by police investigating the murder of a 56-year-old parish councillor whose body was found by fishermen five years ago.

The body of Peter Solheim, from Carnkie, Cornwall, was found five miles off-shore in 2004.

Two men, both 38 and from the area, were arrested on suspicion of murder as part of ongoing investigations into the death, police said.

A woman was found guilty of conspiring to murder Mr Solheim in 2006.

Mr Solheim's body was found floating in the sea, south east of Black Head, on the Lizard, on 18 June 2004. He had last been seen alive two days earlier.

The father-of-two, who was a pagan and member of the druid community, had been drugged and mutilated with a machete or axe before he died from drowning.

Mr Solheim's ex-lover, Margaret James, 58, from Porthoustock, was jailed for 20 years in 2006 for her part in his death.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8044308.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

Shock in Ghana over gruesome death of 'witch'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11848536

Related stories

* 'Ritual killing' rescue in Ghana
* Is witchcraft alive in Africa?

There has been widespread shock in Ghana over the death of a 72-year-old woman accused of being a witch.

The woman, who lived in the port city of Tema, near Accra, was allegedly set on fire by a group of five adults, one of whom is believed to be a pastor.

The suspects say her death was an accident, and deny committing any crime.

The BBC's David Amanor in Accra says belief in witches is common among both educated and uneducated Ghanaians.

Three women and two men have been arrested, aged between 37 and 55.

Police say the suspects tortured the woman, Ama Hemmah, until she confessed to being a witch, before dousing her with kerosene and setting her on fire.

She died from her injuries the following day.

According to reports, the suspects say that they poured anointing oil on the woman which caught fire as they were trying to drive out an evil spirit.

Our correspondent says newspaper pictures showing the woman's injuries have caused revulsion in Ghana, and the incident has been condemned by human rights and women's activists.

Our correspondent says there have been other cases of violence against women accused of being witches, and a government-backed commission has urged religious and civil society groups to help tackle the problem.

 

[ramonmercado]

Indian shaman 'poisons women in witchcraft test'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12149785

An Indian shaman who allegedly forced women to drink a potion to prove they were not witches has been arrested.

Nearly 30 women fell ill after they were rounded up in Shivni village in central Chhattisgarh state on Sunday and made to drink the herbal brew.

A senior police officer told the BBC that six villagers had also been arrested.

Witch hunts targeting women are common in east and central India, and a number of accused are killed every year.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

The witch doctor said that after drinking the brew, the real witch would voluntarily confess”

End Quote Rajesh Joshi Police spokesman

Most of the cases take place in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Police spokesman Rajesh Joshi told the BBC that an 18-year-old villager was accused of witchcraft because she had been unwell.

"Her father Sitaram Rathod and other villagers suspected that it [her illness] could be due to an evil spell cast by a witch," Mr Joshi said.

"They [the villagers] called for an ojha [witch doctor] to ward off the spell."

Authorities said the shaman, named as Bhagwan Deen, had been helped by a few other residents as he rounded up nearly all the adult women in the centre of the village.

He concocted the potion test after conducting rituals which failed to expose the alleged witch.

"The shaman then forced the women to consume a drink that he had made out of a local poisonous herb," Mr Joshi said. "He said that after drinking the brew, the real witch would voluntarily confess."

Of the nearly 30 women taken to hospital after the incident, around 25 women have since been discharged.

But police said five remained in hospital, including a 70-year-old woman who was in a serious condition.

 

[emina]

A bit of a local history riddle here. Sorry if this is a bit long:

THE MYSTERY OF THE WITCH'S GRAVE

This speculative piece about Dunning's most famous monument was written by freelance writer Steve McGrail and originally appeared in 'The Highlander' magazine, U.S.A., August, 1995

The old stone cross rises up, almost twenty feet high. It stands beside the road, the land behind it slipping sharply down to rolling fields. Looking at it from a distance, a visitor stranger used to Scotland might guess that it is some sort of battle memorial. Right enough, Sheriffmuir is not too far away, the nearby village of Dunning was burned by the Jacobites in 1716 and the ancient battlefield of Duncrub is close by. But the cross marks none of those.Something to do with the Covenanters, then? Again no, even though this part of Perthshire was once a hotbed of religious fervour. What, then? Seen close up, the monument quickly tells its story. Roughly painted on the stones are the chilling words 'Maggie Wall burnt here 1657 as a Witch' There is no official plaque from Historic Scotland or the National Trust. Somehow, they make it all the more moving for this is a place of sadness where a dreadful thing happened hundreds of years ago. In the name of....well, in the name of what? A woman was burned at the stake here. If she were lucky she was strangled first. If not, then she died in agony on a pyre of heat and coal doused with tar, perhaps still crying her innocence as the flames around her roared and spat. People who see the cross shudder. Some have felt the tears coming. It is a sad place indeed.

But it is a place of many mysteries too. For a start who was Maggie Wall? And when over 4,000 women were executed in Scotland for witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, why commemorate her alone? It is not because, as the Perthshire tourist map says, she was the last to be burned at the stake. She was not. There were many more.

The questions come thick and fast, but not the answers. Maybe this is inevitable when so little is known about her. There are local stories, of course. It is said that the site of her cottage has even been found. Was she old, was she young? Was she an outsider, perhaps? 'Wall' is a name from Orkney, a corruption of Wallace, or from the Borders. It is common in Ireland too. But her name does not appear in the records at all, which is odd. Witch trials were often carefully recorded. Diligent clerks even put down grim details such as the cost of the peat used for the fire and the rope needed by the executioner. But there is nothing mentioned about poor Maggie. A hundred years ago, Dunning's minister actually claimed that the story was a hoax, why build a monument using such huge boulders and square cut stones? Perhaps Dr. Wilson was just plain embarrassed about what one of his predecessors must have been involved in so he decided Maggie was a myth. Someone still seems to think that the Church had blood on its hands, however. Historican Archie McKerracher in his book on Perthshire says that a wreath is left at the cairn each year, with a card saying 'In memory of Maggie Wall, Burnt by the Church in the Name of Christianity'.
Sketch by Kenny Laing

Nobody knows what her 'crime' was. Perhaps somebody's cow took sick and died and Maggie got the blame. Maybe she just knew too much for her own good about the special properties of herbs and flowers. There again, perhaps the 'Witch Pricker' was called in to look for the 'Devil's Mark' on her body, and found it. This was a patch of skin stained red, brown or blue where his three-inch blade gave no pain when he pushed it in.

The truth is blacker. Probably it has more to do with politics than spells, for Maggie Wall lived and died in troubled times. She also had the bad luck to live in an area with a terrible reputation for persecuting witches. Six more were executed in Dunning in 1663, in a wood on the other side of the village. That number is terrifying for a village of perhaps a few hundred souls. Fear and hysteria were in the air and no woman was safe.

Oliver Cromwell who was governing the country when she died had actually tried to rein back the burnings. For some reason, however, there was an outbreak in 1657 and 1658. Things calmed down but flared up again when Charles II took over in 1660. The persecution was savage. It began to seem as if certain people were making up for lost time. Maggie Wall was one more victim. But why her? It could be that her death had something to do with an event that had happened in Dunning just five years before.

Scotland was torn apart by religious passions, fiery and furious debates. People came to blows and often died for their beliefs. Some preachers were treated like stars, the crowds hanging on their every word as they called down hellfire on their rivals, or cast out devils, or denounced adulterers and lechers. It seems that Dunning had one of these, the Rev.George Muschet.

Local people might have admired their minister's preaching, but the Church authorities in Perth did not. He was upsetting their ideas of God's truth and they tried to stop him. They argued with him, they threatened him, but he ignored them. So, in 1652, a group from the Presbytery of Perth set out for Dunning to hold a Synod to discipline him. The Reverend was going to be sorted out once and for all.

They never made it. A crowd of 120 women led by the wife of the minister of Auchterarder (who was also in trouble) met the group as they tried to get into the Dunning church, St. Serf's. They set on them and attacked them with sticks. To the women, George Muschet was their pastor and that was how it was going to stay! In the riot, the brethren lost their horses, their cloaks were ripped off their backs, the Synod Clerk was held hostage and beaten 'until he foreswore his office'. Bruised and battered, they fled in disarray. Four miles outside the village they regrouped, seething with rage. There they made solemn pronouncement that 'this village should never more have a Synod kept in it but be accursed; and that although in the years 1638 and 1639 the godly women were called up for stoning the bishops, yet now the whole sex should be esteemed wicked'.

Was it this pronouncement that sealed Maggie Wall's fate? had she herself been involved in the disturbances as a leader? But now, the village was 'accursed', her sex 'wicked'. Did she become a scapegoat for what had happened, was her death someone's frightful revenge for the humiliation that was suffered? Did someone plot and brood, was a neighbour's chance remark or spiteful accusation the spark needed to light the final ghastly inferno? It is very tempting to think so.

But the trail quickly goes cold. Nothing in writing links the riot to the burning. Reverend Muschet was finally deposed and replaced by the third son of Lord Andrew Rollo, the local landowner. If that were just a coincidence, it must surely have suited somebody nicely. The former minister carried on preaching, however. When he died in 1663, his will described him very firmly as 'Preacher of God's Word'. He must still have had influence locally, at least. As he lay dying, did he think about Maggie Wall, did he see himself as at all responsible? We will never know the answer.

There is another puzzle. In the same year that Maggie died, a warlock lived in Dunning. He was described as 'Johnnie Gothrie, charmer'. As with the Reverend Muschet, the Presbytery of Perth came to try his case. He was banned from taking the Sacrament and local people were warned not to talk to him. He survived, while Maggie Wall died. Why? True enough, not many warlocks were killed as compared with witches. Even so, he was lucky. Perhaps he had influential supporters. A local story hints that she might have had one friend or at least someone who had once been an enemy but who had changed his mind, too late to save her.

This story concerns the cairn itself. There is no other memorial like it in Scotland to a witch. Only a very powerful person could have risked building it, while putting a Christian symbol on top of it was like defying the Church. Ordinary folk would not usually dare to show sympathy to a witch, dead or alive. Who knew where the accusing finger would point next? Local historian Kenny Laing thinks that it was Lord Rollo himself who ordered the monument to be built, on his estate where the burning took place. As a landowner he would have sat in judgment over Maggie. Along with others he would have signed the documents and he would have heard the minister, his own son Andrew, utter the fatal words sentencing her to death. In his bitter shame, thinks Kenny, Lord Andrew had the memorial built soon after the execution. A local legend says it was done when Lady Rollo was away, as she disapproved of the scheme. Again, there is the whiff of local politics and hints of strife among the aristocracy themselves over the affair.

Whatever the truth of this, there stands Maggie Wall's memorial to this day. But it does not give up its secrets easily. It has another. Who paints the inscription on the stones?

People in the area say they genuinely do not know, but they have their suspicions. Whoever does it, does it regularly. The tradition seems to go back a long way. A photograph taken perhaps a hundred years ago shows the lettering already there, just as it is now. The modern artist simply follows the original outlines. But why? Is the task handed down in some local family? Is it done by the same person who lays the wreath? And above all, why does a poor woman who died so long ago matter so much to someone today?

Because matter she surely does, and to many people. Perhaps more come to her grave than come to see Dunning's other well-known monument, the 12th century church of St. Serf's. Among visitors in the past have been the infamous 'Moors Murderers' Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. A photograph of their holiday in Scotland clearly shows them at the cairn. As visitors, they are fortunately an exception, although of course a few people bring ghoulish fantasies. Locals are pretty matter of fact about the whole business of the grave. Says Kenny Laing 'We used to play near the cairn when I was a youngster; it never bothered us. There were trees around it then, Maggie Wall's Wood it was called. We weren't scared or anything like that. Ghost stories? No, I've never heard any about Maggie Wall'.

People visit the site for all sorts of reasons. Scotland's dark and bloody history fascinates some. Perhaps others come to pity, bringing flowers bought from a shop, or taken from the hedgerows. Some try to understand the superstitiions of the past. Many simply wonder at human cruelty. But whatever they think about what happened here, the witch's grave keeps its mysteries.

Steve McGrail, Dunblane, 1995

Editor's note: The last woman burnt as a witch in Scotland was Janet Horne, in Dornoch in 1722.

http://www.dunning.uk.net/maggie.html

So, unanswered questions:

Why commemorate her? (the only one witch out of 4000 executed)
Why's there no record of a trial or execution? (there is for all the others in the area)
Why's the monument christian?
Who build it? (must have had permission, can't have been a secret)
Who continues to maintain the inscription to this day?

And as if that isn't enough, there's a pub in Glasgow that claims to have the skull in a case!

http://www.saracenhead.com/#/maggie-wal ... 4533726863[/quote]

 

[amester]

There are a lot of historical atrocities that make me want to get into a time machine armed with a baseball bat. But the "witch" persecutions and "Burning Times" in particular just really anger me more than almost anything else. Is it wrong to hope that the people who burned other people at the stake ended up dying themselves in some horrible way later on? I guess it's no better when people act just as evil in the 21st century but at least you'd think we would know better by now.

 

[AsamiYamazaki]

It's pretty likely that one of my rellies was put to death as a witch back in 1629 - I think all the Orkney Rendalls are related, and a Jonet Rendall was found guilty and executed then.

The case of Jonet Rendall, accused of witchcraft and 'devilrie' in Orkney in 1629, affords another example of the bleeding corpse. According to her dittay when she was brought into the presence of her victim, 'the cors having lyin ane guid space and not having bled any, immediatelie bled mutch bluid as ane suir token' that she was the author of his death.

 

[ramonmercado]

Tanzania police arrested over 'witchcraft killing' riot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17138958
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

In hiding for exposing Tanzania witch-doctors
Tanzania country profile - Overview
Four Tanzanian police officers have been detained after two people were killed during a protest over alleged witchcraft killings.

A regional commander told the BBC that police had opened fire in the south-eastern town of Songea to stop an angry crowd from smashing public property.

The protesters said not enough had been done to find those behind the recent killing of six women.

Police deny the murders were done to obtain body parts for witchcraft use.

In recent years, there have been a spate of killings of people with albinism in Tanzania.

Their body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers to bring success in business and love.

The women killed in the Songea area were not believed to be albinos.

Stampede
Ruvuma regional police commander Michael Kamhanda told the BBC that police officers "were forced to use live bullets" after they "had exhausted all means to disperse rowdy crowds".

Thousands of people took to the streets of Songea on Wednesday - after four women were killed and their bodies allegedly mutilated last week.

They attacked the police station and several government offices - and were heading towards a presidential residence when officers opened fire, Mr Kamhanda said.

Two other people were killed during a stampede, the AFP news agency reports.

A total of six women have been killed in the area since November - but Ruvuma police say there is no evidence, despite a widespread belief among local residents, that the killers cut off parts of the bodies for use in witchcraft.

 

[ramonmercado]

Witchcraft murder: Couple guilty of Kristy Bamu killing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17040111

Family statement: "We will strive to move forward as a family"

Related Stories

Killers' witchcraft 'obsession'
Calls to end ‘witch’ child abuse
DR Congo's 'child witch' exorcism

A couple have been found guilty of murdering a teenager they had accused of using witchcraft.

Eric Bikubi, 28, and Magalie Bamu, aged 29, from Newham, east London, had denied killing Bamu's 15-year-old brother Kristy.

Kristy drowned in a bath on Christmas Day in 2010, during torture to produce exorcism, an Old Bailey jury heard.

Bikubi had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but the prosecution rejected his plea.

The pair, who are both originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on Monday.

'No comfort'
The family of the murdered teenager said they had "forgiven" his killers.

A family statement, read out in court by prosecutor Brian Altman QC, said: "We will never forget, but to put our lives back into sync we must forgive.

"We take no comfort in the verdicts - we have been robbed of a beloved son, a daughter, a son-in-law.


Magalie Bamu "stoked the fire" of Bikubi's violence, the court heard
"Kristy died in unimaginable circumstances at the hands of people who he loved and trusted. People who we all loved and trusted."

Judge David Paget, who was presiding over his last trial before retiring, told the jury of seven women and five men the case was so "harrowing" he was exempting them from jury service for the rest of their lives.

'Begged to die'
"It is a case we will all remember," he told them. "Court staff will speak to you and offer help to you."

During the trial, jurors heard Kristy was in such pain after three days of attacks by Bikubi and Bamu, who used knives, sticks, metal bars and a hammer and chisel, that he "begged to die", before slipping under the water.

Kristy had been killed while he and his siblings were visiting Bikubi and Bamu for Christmas, the court was told.

During the stay, Bikubi turned on them, accusing them of bringing "kindoki" - or witchcraft - into his home.

He then beat all three of them and forced other children to join in with the attacks, the jury heard.


Bikubi argued he was mentally ill, but the prosecution rejected his plea
But it was Kristy who became the focus of the defendant's attention, the prosecution said.

Bamu and football coach Bikubi believed he had cast spells on another child in the family, the Old Bailey heard.

Kristy had refused to admit to sorcery and witchcraft and his punishments, in a "deliverance" ceremony, became more horrendous until he admitted to being a sorcerer.

The defence had argued Bikubi was mentally ill when he carried out the killing, with a scan of his brain showing lesions which "probably contributed to an abnormal mental state".

'Unimaginable violence'
However, the prosecution had rejected this as a plea to reduce the charge against him.

During her defence, Magalie Bamu told the jury Bikubi had forced her to join in the attack on the children.

But the court heard there was ample evidence to show she hit Kristy and "stoked the fire of violence" Bikubi had embarked on in the flat.

Outside court, chief crown prosecutor Jenny Hopkins said Bikubi "knew exactly what he was doing".


Jenny Hopkins of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Bikubi "inflicted violence on an unimaginable scale"
"His actions were nothing short of torture and he inflicted on the victims violence on an unimaginable scale," she said.

"It has also been proven that his accomplice - Magalie Bamu - acted of her own accord.

"She willingly subjected her 15-year-old brother to extreme violence."

Met Det Supt Terry Sharpe said: "Child abuse in any form, including that based on a belief in witchcraft or spirit possession, is a horrific crime which is condemned by people of all cultures, communities and faith, and is never acceptable in any circumstances."

Kristy's family said they hoped comfort could be drawn from his death through raising awareness "of the plight of children accused of witchcraft or spirit possession and promote the need to safeguard children's rights".

 

[ramonmercado]

Woman burned alive for 'sorcery' in Papua New Guinea
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21363894

A woman has been tortured and burned alive in Papua New Guinea after being accused of using sorcery to kill a young boy, local media report.

The woman, a mother aged 20 named as Kepari Leniata, was stripped, tied up and doused in petrol by the boy's relatives in Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, said the National newspaper.

She was then thrown onto a fire in front of hundreds of people.

Police and firefighters were unable to intervene, the paper said.

The Post Courier newspaper said they had been outnumbered by the crowd and chased away. Both newspapers published graphic photos of the incident on their front pages.

Provincial police commander Supt Kaiglo Ambane told the National that police were treating the case as murder and would arrest those responsible.

In parts of the Pacific nation deaths and mysterious illnesses are sometimes blamed on suspected sorcerers. Several reports have emerged in recent years of accused people, usually women, being killed.

In 2009, after a string of such killings, the chairman of PNG's Constitutional Review and Law Reform Commission said defendants were using accusations of witchcraft as an excuse to kill people, and called for tougher legislation to tackle the issue.

Local Christian bishop David Piso told the National that sorcery-related killings were a growing problem, and urged the government "to come up with a law to stop such practice".

The US embassy in the capital, Port Moresby, condemned the killing as a "brutal murder", the AFP news agency reports, and evidence of "pervasive gender-based violence" in Papua New Guinea.

"There is no possible justification for this sort of violence. We hope that appropriate resources are devoted to identifying, prosecuting, and punishing those responsible for Ms Leniata's murder."

 

[Zilch5]

Apparently this is far from an isolated incident:

Mr Kulunga said while those involved in the killing would be arrested and brought to justice the potential for future sorcery related killings still remained.
“Churches, NGOs and relevant government departments need to take some responsibility in addressing this issue so that we end, if not minimise, further sorcery related killings,” he said, adding that perhaps one way is to appoint special courts to deal with sorcery related cases.
Mr Kulunga also suggested education and the raising of awareness in provinces where such killings are widespread to deal with the issue.

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20130208/news.htm

 

[ramonmercado]

And again.

Two women beheaded in Papua New Guinea over witchcraft claims
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 64121.html
CHARLIE COOPER MONDAY 08 APRIL 2013

Two elderly women have been beheaded in front of a crowd of onlookers in Papua New Guinea in the latest of a spate of brutal attacks in the country against people accused of witchcraft.

Police at the scene were outnumbered by an angry mob and were forced to stand by as the women were murdered in a remote village, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

Bougainville police inspector Herman Birengka said his men had been “helpless”.

It is understood the two women had been suspected of causing the death of a local teacher through sorcery.

“The two women were rounded up and taken to Lopele village after they were suspected of practising sorcery and blamed for the death of a former teacher, who was from Lopele village,” Mr Birengka said.

The newspaper reported that the two women had been tortured for three days before the murders, suffering knife and axe wounds. Police were sent to the remote village to act as mediators but were held back by the mob, who were reportedly armed with firearms, knives and axes.

The killings come days after six women accused of sorcery were reportedly tortured with hot irons in the country's Southern Highlands and last month a woman was burned to death by a mob, leading Amnesty International to call for more action to prevent violence associated with accusations of witchcraft in the country.

The killings have led 1,000 people to march through the streets of Buka, in Bougainville Province, in protest against sorcery-related killings, Radio Australia reported.

Local human rights leader Helen Makena, chairman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee, told Radio Australia that the feeling at the rally was “sadness” but that women and men “spoke out and condemned the barbabaric killing”.

Amnesty has urged Papua New Guinea's government to address the violence in the Pacific nation, where many still believe in sorcery.

 

[ramonmercado]

Papua New Guinea prime minister to repeal sorcery law
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22123237

Peter O'Neill says he cannot guarantee legislation would be introduced this parliamentary session

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea has vowed to revoke a controversial sorcery law after a string of attacks on people, reports say.

Peter O'Neill made the statement days after a woman was beheaded in south Bougainville.

She was accused of practising sorcery that caused the death of a teacher, local media said.

In parts of the Pacific nation deaths and mysterious illnesses are sometimes blamed on suspected sorcerers.

'Barbaric'
Several reports have emerged in recent years of accused people, usually women, being killed.

The country's Sorcery Act 1971 criminalises the practice of sorcery.

But critics say it gives the notion legitimacy and has led to an increase in false accusations.

The United Nations has called on the PNG government to strengthen legislation on the issue.


"We're starting to work at it," Mr O'Neill was quoted as saying by Australia's ABC News.

"We have quite a lot of issues on the table, so please give us a chance to work on it.

"Hopefully this session of parliament, but I cannot guarantee it. Realistically, a few sessions away, we will be able to put an act to parliament to stop this nonsense about witchcraft and all the other sorceries that are really barbaric in itself."

In the most recent case, a woman was reportedly decapitated by a mob who accused her of using witchcraft to kill a colleague in Lopele village.

Police said villagers armed with weapons outnumbered police and looted property.

The acting assistant police commissioner for south Bougainville, Paul Kamuai, told ABC News that local forces were unable to stop the violence.

A 20-year-old woman was burned alive in February after she was accused of sorcery.

In 2009, after a string of such killings, the chairman of Papua New Guinea's Constitutional Review and Law Reform Commission said defendants were using accusations of witchcraft as an excuse to kill people, and called for tougher legislation to tackle the issue.

 

[ramonmercado]

More bizarre PNG news.

Father tries to eat his baby in sorcery ritual
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/fathe ... tual-83637
Press Trust of India | Updated: February 05, 2011 19:41 IST

Sydney: A drug-crazed father in Papua New Guinea has been accused of trying to eat his newborn baby boy in a grisly witchcraft ceremony, a report said today.

Local residents awoke to the baby's screams and chased the man to the police station, where he was detained, Australia's AAP news agency said, quoting police. The baby died of his injuries.

"It is a very disturbing incident," said Sergeant Demas Tapea, police commander in the Western Province town of Tabulil.

"The community is upset, angry but there is also a lot of fear and anxiety because there is a belief in sorcery or witchcraft."

Tapea said the suspect was known to police and had a history of drug problems.

"Locals are saying the man was carrying out a sorcery ritual, or initiation, to become part of some sort of special society," he said.

"The suspect has a long history of drug abuse and we are not surprised something like this has happened. A few years ago, he went crazy in what we believe was due to the effects of drugs."

Belief in witchcraft and sorcery remains strong in the impoverished South Pacific nation, where a spate of murders has been linked to rituals.

 

[Zilch5]

An update on the truly sorry state of affairs in PNG:

Witch-hunt

Witch burning, torture and sorcery are still frighteningly common in Papua New Guinea, and the victims are invariably women, writes Tim Elliott.

Witch-hunts went out of style in Europe some time in the 1700s. But in PNG, where 80 per cent of the population still lives in the bush and even city folk believe in black magic, such violence is increasingly common. According to PNG's Constitutional and Law Reform Commission, the Highlands province of Simbu alone experiences 150 attacks a year.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/witchhunt-2 ... z2RX84KQHG

 

[ramonmercado]

Ghanaians ban 'spirit child' killing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22335634

These children were accused of being possessed by evil spirits

Local leaders in northern Ghana have announced the abolition of the ritual killing of babies born with physical disabilities, who were believed to have been possessed by evil spirits.

"Spirit children" were thought to have been a sign of impending misfortune and given a poisonous drink to kill them.

One campaigner told the BBC that improved healthcare and education meant such beliefs were becoming less common.

Activist Raymond Ayine welcomed the ban, which covers seven towns.

But he said he could not guarantee that the practice had been eradicated from the whole country.

The BBC's Vera Kwakofi says the Kasena-Nankana region, where the ban has been announced, is the part of Ghana where such beliefs are most widespread.

Sometimes, babies born at the same time as a family misfortune were also accused of being "spirit children" and killed.

The "concoction men" who used to give the children the poisonous drink have been given new roles; they will now work with disabled children to promote their rights.

'Barbaric practice'

Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that he took a plastic doll to a soothsayer, saying it was a child with eating problems and physical disabilities.

"He consulted the oracles, jumped up and down and after this said that the oracles confirmed that the child was an evil child and that the child needed to be killed immediately, and that the child had already killed two members of my family," he said.

Local chief Naba Henry Abawine Amenga-Etigo said that anyone caught trying to harm children from now on would be handed over to the police.

Mr Ayine, from the campaign group Afrikids, said he was "saddened that in today's era, a child could lose its life because of such a barbaric practice".

He noted that in rural areas where such beliefs are more common, women often give birth without ever seeing a midwife, let alone having a pre-natal scan. As a result, childbirth leads to complications more often than elsewhere, he said.

He also said that even before the official ban, there had been no recorded case of the killing of "spirit children" in the area for the past three years.

He put this down to awareness campaigns, as well as improved access to education that meant more people understood that physical disabilities had a medical explanation.

In other parts of northern Ghana, elderly women accused of being witches are sometimes forced to leave their homes and live in "witch camps".

 

[ramonmercado]

PNG repeals sorcery law and expands death penalty
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22698668

Prime Minster Peter O'Neill pledged to toughen laws in May, after several high-profile crimes

Papua New Guinea has repealed its controversial Sorcery Act but has expanded its use of the death penalty.

Under legislation passed in parliament on Tuesday, killings linked to allegations of witchcraft will now be treated as murder.

The death penalty will be applied to more crimes, including rape, and more methods of execution have been approved.

Amnesty International condemned the move to toughen penalties.

"Papua New Guinea has taken one step forward in protecting women from violence by repealing the Sorcery Act, but several giant steps back by moving closer to executions," Amnesty's deputy director for the Asia-Pacific Isabelle Arradon said in a statement.

'State-sanctioned violence'
In parts of Papua New Guinea, deaths and mysterious illnesses are sometimes blamed on suspected sorcerers, usually women. But officials say accusations of witchcraft are used to justify violence.

The repeal of the 1971 Sorcery Act, which acknowledged the accusation of sorcery as a plausible defence in murder cases, came after a series of brutal public killings.

In February, a 20-year-old mother accused of sorcery was burned alive in a village market. Two months later, a woman accused of black magic was beheaded.

Sorcery-related killings will now be treated as murder and the death penalty will be applicable, local media said.

Ms Arradon called the repeal of the act "long overdue" but accused the government of "attempting to end one of form of violence by perpetrating state-sanctioned violence".

Lawmakers have also approved legislation allowing the death penalty to be applied to aggravated rape - gang-rape, the use of a weapon, or rape of a child - and armed robbery, PNG's The National reported.

Parliament approved several methods for applying the death penalty, the Post Courier reported, including hanging, lethal injection, firing squad and electrocution.

Penalties for kidnapping, theft and white-collar crime were also toughened, with longer jail terms prescribed.

The laws were tough but reflected crime levels and community demands, The National quoted Justice and Attorney General Kerenga Kua as saying.

Papua New Guinea has not carried out an execution since 1954, despite parliament's decision to reintroduce the death penalty for murder in 1991. At least 10 people are currently on death row, Amnesty said.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neil announced plans to begin implementing the death penalty and to increase prison sentences for violent crimes last month, saying "draconian" measures were needed.

His move followed a number of high-profile crimes in the Pacific nation, including the gang-rape of a US academic in April.

 

[Zilch5]

Saudi Arabia's War on Witchcraft
A special unit of the religious police pursues magical crime aggressively, and the convicted face death sentences.

The sorceress was naked.

The sight of her bare flesh startled the prudish officers of Saudi Arabia's infamous religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), which had barged into her room in what was supposed to be a routine raid of a magical hideout in the western desert city of Madinah's Al-Seeh neighborhood. They paused in shock, and to let her dress.

The woman -- still unclothed -- managed to slip out of the window of her apartment and flee. According to the 2006 account of the Saudi Okaz newspaper, which has been described as the Arabic equivalent of the New York Post, she "flew like a bird." A frantic pursuit ensued. The unit found their suspect after she had fallen through the unsturdy roof of an adjacent house and onto the ground next to a bed of dozing children.

They covered her body, arrested her, and claimed to uncover key evidence indicating that witchcraft had indeed been practiced, including incense, talismans, and videos about magic. In the Al Arabiya report, a senior Islamic cleric lamented that the incident had occurred in a city of such sacred history. The prophet Muhammad is buried there, and it is considered the second most holy location in Islam, second to Mecca. The cleric didn't doubt the details of the incident. "Some magicians may ride a broom and fly in the air with the help of the jinn [supernatural beings]," he said.

The fate of this sorceress is not readily apparent, but her plight is common. Judging from the punishments of others accused of practicing witchcraft in Saudi Arabia before and since, the consequences were almost certainly severe.

In 2007, Egyptian pharmacist Mustafa Ibrahim was beheaded in Riyadh after his conviction on charges of "practicing magic and sorcery as well as adultery and desecration of the Holy Quran." The charges of "magic and sorcery" are not euphemisms for some other kind of egregious crime he committed; they alone were enough to qualify him for a death sentence. He first came to the attention of the religious authorities when members of a mosque in the northern town of Arar voiced concerns over the placement of the holy book in the restroom. After being accused of disrupting a man's marriage through spellwork, and the discovery of "books on black magic, a candle with an incantation 'to summon devils,' and 'foul-smelling herbs,'" the case -- and eventually his life -- were swallowed by the black hole of the discretionary Saudi court system.

More at the link: http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... ft/278701/

 

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Now, Now, the Saudi princes are our friends, no matter how vile, vicious and mediaeval their regime might appear to be to us ordinary folks in the West. They own half of London and are in tight with our rulers, the bank managers.

 

[ramonmercado]

Memorial unveiled for Kinross witchcraft victims
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-t ... l-20085045

Witches maze

The Witches Maze is a memorial to the 11 people from Crook of Devon executed for being 'witches' in 1662

A memorial to 11 people executed for witchcraft in Kinross has been unveiled at the home of those who condemned them.

The Witches Maze at Tullibole Castle commemorates the victims of the Crook of Devon witch trials in 1662.

The castle was once home to William Halliday and his son John who held court over the 'covens' in the village.

Lord Moncrieff, who now owns Tullibole, commissioned the maze as there is no memorial in Crook of Devon.

In 1662 the court sat five times and resulted in the death of 11 suspected witches.

Those who survived the trials were taken to a small mound near the current village hall and strangled by the common hangman and their bodies thrown on a fire.

Victims remembered
Lord Moncreiff commenced on the maze in 2003. The finished memorial is a circle 33m (100ft) wide and consists of 2,000 beach trees.

At the centre of the maze is a one and a half ton elaborate sandstone pillar, with the names of the victims etched on it.

The five sided pillar was created by Gillian Forbes, a stone carver from Path of Condie.

Lord Moncreiff said: "I dislike public art that has nothing to say and commissioned Gillian because I believe she understands the sensitivity of the task.

"It is my hope that the memorial will also question our understanding of the past and issues of blame and judgement in modern day society."

 

[Zilch5]

This article raises more question than answers for me...

Zimbabwe: Witch-Hunter's Antics Cause Confusion, Disbelief At Chichera

THE community at Chichera farm near Old Marlborough suburb has been left in a state of confusion, awe and disbelief following the invasion of the area by a self-proclaimed witch-hunter, who claims to be unearthing tools used for sorcery.

The self-proclaimed witch-hunter, Morius Mbofana, popularly known as Sekuru Maguranyanga has been causing stir in the area for the past two weeks where he is claiming to be carrying out witch-hunting and cleansing exercises at the invitation of locals.

Standardcommunity last week attended a meeting where a number of farm dwellers who were allegedly "caught" with tools of magic confessed and asked for forgiveness from the community.

"I was caught with a snake which was in a bag in my bed room. The snake belongs to me," said an elderly man identified only as Matibhiri.

Said another man who requested anonymity: "I was keeping a charm which I was using to lure women and Sekuru fished it out of my pants during the cleansing ceremony."

A young woman who was standing next to her husband said Sekuru Maguranyanga discovered a mouse which the witch-hunter argued was sucking blood from her three months old son.

"I do not know how that thing ended up in my house but Sekuru said it belongs to me. I am really confused," she said.

John Ojesi, who is the farm workers' leader, said they indeed invited the witch-hunter upon the request of the community.

"I can confirm that Sekuru Maguranyanga is a genuine traditional healer. We invited him after vetting his papers and made sure that he is a true member of Zinatha. He is doing wonders, and the whole community is happy with what he is doing," he said.

He however said a few villagers had their misgivings over the conduct of the witch-hunter.

"We have had a few incidences where some members of the community have said they do not want the witch-hunter to visit them because of their religion, but generally things are taking shape. There is no one who has been forced to take part in Sekuru Maguranyanga's dealings," he said.

The witch-hunter sensationally "unearthed" magic which he claimed was being used by some local men to be intimate with women without their knowledge (mubobobo).

http://allafrica.com/stories/201401161266.html