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The Witch Killers

#BBCtrending: Did voodoo rumours on Facebook lead to a murder?

A violent murder in a Brazilian beach town shows the danger of rumours on social media.

As in communities across the world, people in Guaruja, near Sao Paulo, often get their news fix from local Facebook pages rather than newspapers. Guaruja Alerta is one of the most popular, with more than 50,000 likes. But a series of posts on the page has now been blamed for a terrible murder.

On Saturday, Fabiane Maria de Jesus, a 33-year-old mother of two, was attacked by a mob using stones and heavy sticks and then - shockingly - lynched in broad daylight. This gruesome attack was filmed by people on their phones and posted online. De Jesus died from her injuries on Monday, and her lawyers allege that the Guaruja Alerta Facebook page was responsible for her killing.

Why do they blame the Facebook page? For weeks, rumours had been circulating in the town about a woman kidnapping local children to perform voodoo rituals on them. The stories were posted on the Facebook page, despite the fact that the people running the page were told by police that the rumours weren't true. The rumours alleged the kidnapper was always carrying a Bible. De Jesus was carrying a Bible on the day she was attacked, and was seen giving a banana to a child. "We don't think the owner of the Facebook page is a murderer," De Jesus' lawyer, Airton Sinto, told BBC Trending. "We think he is an irresponsible person who should take responsibility for what he has done."

The administrators of the Facebook page say they did post the police's statement - that there were no reported kidnappings of any children - on their Facebook page. But they admit they did not take down their earlier posts and continued discussing the rumours. Their lawyers told BBC Trending that those who blame the Facebook site "are looking for the wrong people" - and that blame lies only with the mob who attacked her.

Local police chief Ricardo Lara told BBC Trending that it's too early to be sure whether De Jesus' murder was linked to the false stories of a "voodoo kidnapper", but a man arrested for the crime has admitted he had heard the rumours. At the moment, there is no law in Brazil that would criminalise spreading rumours on social media. The events in Guaraja might change that though, as there is now a national debate in Brazil on the issue.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-27311519
 
Stoning seems to be very popular in Brazil at the moment.

And over to Libya, where things seem to be going swimmingly post-Gadaffi:

A United Nations observer at the trial of two of Muammar Gaddafi's sons in Libya has been detained on suspicion of "black magic".

Ahmed Ghanem, one of a three-strong UN team monitoring the case, was detained by security units on suspicion of occult practices.

Photographs of his identity card and possessions were posted on the internet after the detention on Sunday at Tripoli's maximum security al-Hadba prison, where the trial is being held.

A source at the prison said Ghanem, an Egyptian, was detained upon arrival to monitor the case on Sunday after written material was found indicating possible "sorcery" or improper communications, and was later released by judicial police. It is unclear if such an offence is recognised under Libyan law.

A UN spokesman confirmed the detention and said it was seeking an explanation from the Libyan authorities.

The incident is the latest controversy to rock a trial condemned as "riddled with procedural flaws" by Human Rights Watch.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, his younger brother Saadi and the former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi are all charged with war crimes, but have complained of having neither lawyers nor access to evidence in a case that began last month.

The decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to allow Libya to try Senussi, who is also wanted by The Hague, may be examined by the United Nations after complaints by his lawyers.

Senussi's lawyers have written to the ICC saying Libya has denied them access to their client and have asked that the UN investigate the trial process.

"When those who are sent by the UN to monitor the trial are themselves arrested by militia, how can the international community expect those actually on trial to be treated fairly?" said Rod Dixon QC, one of Senussi's ICC-appointed legal team.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...suspicion-black-magic?CMP=twt_fdGuardian[/url
 
UN urges action on Papua New Guinea sorcery attacks

The United Nations has urged Papua New Guinea to act to halt attacks against women - and sometimes men - over the belief that they are witches.

UN human rights adviser Signe Poulsen criticised the government for bringing back the death penalty, saying it had done nothing to stop the attacks.

She said a fair trial and certainty of punishment would be a better deterrent.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused the government of failing to protect women from such attacks.

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

Ms Poulsen told a local workshop that there must be an "end to impunity" for those accused of carrying out such attacks.

"While we support strong measures against perpetrators, we do not believe that the death penalty is an effective measure," she was quoted as saying by local media.

"It is rather the certainty that perpetrators will be apprehended and dealt with through sound judicial processes that will serve as a deterrent." ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27827970
 
Reports of child abuse linked to 'witchcraft' increase

148 cases of child abuse linked to witchcraft have been reported since 2004
More cases of ritual child abuse linked are being reported than ever before, according to police figures released today.

Scotland Yard has received 27 allegations of ritual child abuse linked to witchcraft in the past year, with police believing many more remain “hidden” by families.

In 2013 there were 24 cases, compared to 19 in 2012 and nine in 2011. Since 2004, 148 cases have been referred to the Metropolitan Police.

Among this year’s cases are two claims of rape, alongside a report one child was swung round before being smacked over the head in order to “drive out the devil”.

The Telegraph reported instances of children having chili rubbed into their eyes in order to remove evil spirits, to instances where children were dunked in baths and forced to drink noxious liquids in exorcism ceremonies.

Police officers will meet with a group including teachers, child care and health workers today at London's City Hall to discuss how to tackle the issue.

Detective Superintendent Terry Sharpe from the Met Police’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command said: "Families or carers genuinely believe that the victim has been completely taken over by the devil or an evil spirit, which is often supported by someone who within the community has portrayed themselves as an authority on faith and belief.”

"Abuse linked to belief is a horrific crime which is condemned by people of all cultures, communities and faiths. A number of high-profile investigations brought the issue of ritual abuse and witchcraft into the headlines but it is important that professionals are clear about the signs to look for," he said.

There have been a number of horrific killings in recent years, notably the murder of Kristy Bamu, 15, who was tortured and drowned on Christmas Day 2010. ...
 
Tanzanian police have charged 23 people with murder after seven villagers were burned alive on suspicion of witchcraft. Though the attacks in Murufiti, a village in the western Kigoma region, happened on Monday, reports only surfaced with the arrests. Five of those killed were aged over 60, the other two were over 40.

A Tanzanian human rights group estimates that 500 suspected witches are killed in Tanzania annually.

The suspects were arraigned in court on Friday and accused of murder. They remain in custody. Of the detained, at least one is a local leader, according to Kigoma police commander Jafari Mohammed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29572974
 
An elderly Indian woman accused of practising witchcraft has been stripped naked and beheaded by villagers in the state of Assam, police say.

They said that 63-year-old Purni Orang had been blamed for illness in the tribal settlement.

Seven people, including two women, have been arrested over her killing.

Police in Assam say nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after such accusations over the last six years.

Branding women as witches is particularly prevalent among tribal communities and tea plantation workers in the state.

People in a village in Sonitpur district were falling sick, and some of them "blamed Purni Orang for their condition", local police official Samad Hussain told BBC Hindi.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33605244
 
Police in India say they have held 16 people in connection with the killing of a woman accused of practising witchcraft.

Purni Orang, 63, was stripped naked and beheaded by villagers in Assam state, after she was blamed for illness in a tribal settlement in Sonitpur district.

Among those arrested were nine women. ...

A group of villagers have protested at the local police station, demanding the release of those arrested.

"Purni was a witch and had cast evil spells on her enemies, there is no place for such sorcerers and so her killing is justified", Kiran Teronpi, a villager, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33605244
 
Five women have been killed in eastern India by villagers who believed they were witches, according to local officials.

The killings took place in a rural community in the state of Jharkhand, where there are frequent reports of fatal attacks on women who locals say have cast curses that are blamed for poor crops, illness or misfortune. The killings often disguise family feuds or land disputes.

In the latest incident villagers with sticks and knives attacked the five women on Friday night in the town of Kanjia, police officials said.

“The women were dragged out of their home while asleep and beaten to death by the villagers suspecting them to be witches … some were even stoned to death,” said Jharkhand police spokesperson SN Pradhan.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...lagers-suspecting-witchcraft?CMP=share_btn_tw
 
Child abuse linked to exorcism and witchcraft accusations is on the rise, figures obtained by the BBC suggest.

The Metropolitan Police said there had been 60 crimes linked to faith in London so far this year. It saw reports double from 23 in 2013 to 46 in 2014.

Half of UK police forces do not record such cases and many local authorities are also unable to provide figures.

The NSPCC said authorities "need to ensure they are able to spot the signs of this particular brand of abuse".

London is unique in having a police team, Project Violet, dedicated to this type of abuse.

Its figures relate to crime reports where officers have flagged a case as involving abuse linked to faith or belief. Many of the cases involve children.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34475424
 
They came for her in the middle of the night. Wielding machetes and with their faces covered, the men left her for dead and killed her husband as he tried to protect her.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” says Bina Rabha, a softly spoken woman in her 40s, recounting the attack two years ago at her simple home in rural Assam, in India’s north east. “But despite this, we suffered,” she says, pointing to scars on her forehead and arms and offering up her disfigured hands.

Like hundreds of women in isolated tribal communities across India, Bina was branded a witch – blamed for the illness of two people in her village and targeted to bring an end to their misfortune. She was lucky to survive the assault.

A recent spate of killings, including beheadings, of supposed witches has highlighted how superstition collides with violence against women in forgotten corners of Asia’s third-largest economy.

More than 1,200 people have been murdered across India for allegedly practising witchcraft since 2008, according to government figures. During the same period in the fertile, tea-growing state of Assam, police registered 111 criminal cases linked to witch-hunting.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ctim-of-superstition-speaks-out-a6699161.html
 
This is exciting! I had no idea that Kepler was such a hero.
According to this new research, Kepler defended his own mother against witch hunters.

Astronomer and the witch: historian tells how scientist saved his mother from being burned alive
Widely regarded as one of the greatest astronomers to ever live, Johannes Kepler was a major figure of the early scientific revolution, and had one of the sharpest logical minds of his day.

However the German scientist had to put all his skills of reasoning to the test when his own mother Katharina was imprisoned and accused of witchcraft.

The little-known tale of how he returned to his homeland to argue for her innocence has now been revealed by professor of early modern history Ulinka Rublack.

Rest of story at link:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Ast...entist-saved/story-28028635-detail/story.html
 
The Church has a unique role in combating belief in sorcery and mob reprisal attacks against “sorcerers”, a bishop in Papua New Guinea has said.

A shocking video emerged reportedly showing the torture of women suspected of witchcraft and accused of “invisibly” taking out a man’s heart after he fell ill in August.

The footage shows at least four women being stripped, tied up, burned and beaten, as they are prodded and threatened with machetes by men who shout questions at them. It is thought at least one died following the attack.

One woman pleads for her life, calling out “My son, stop it!” while another cries out “I’ve got nothing to do with it. I am the mother of five children.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/new...against-sorcery-violence-in-papua-new-guinea/
 
More than 2,000 people accused of being witches have been killed in Indiaover the last 15 years in poor, remote areas of the northeast.

The victims, nearly all of them women, have been swept up in modern-day witch hunts, often accused by a neighbor or family member who might blame devious sorcery for a bad harvest or an unexplained illness. But the allegations sometimes stem from personal disputes over property and the land rights of women.

For three decades, Birubala Rabha, an activist, has fought to end this violent, retrograde practice of punishing women accused of witchcraft. She works with state legislators and residents of rural villages to investigate accusers and protect victims and their families. A videojournalist, Vikram Singh, traveled to Assam State to report on Ms. Rabha’s work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/asia/india-assam-state-witch-hunts.html?ref=asia&_r=0

Vid at link
 
Justice remains a far-fetched dream for the ‘witches’ of Bhilwara

The wrinkled face of Mangi Bai Kumawat doesn’t twitch anymore as she recounts the horrors of the day in 2014 when she was accused of being a daayan or witch and branded with red-hot iron rods.

Instead, a forlorn expression clouds the face of the elderly lady who, like many other women in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, has little hope of getting justice.

A district located at the heart of the historical Mewar region, Bhilwara has seen most number of witch-hunting cases over the years in the state. Many cases are pending in courts and the accused out of jail.

“Two years ago, some people from the Mali community barged into my house in Chileshwar village. They were carrying iron rods heated in the fire. Some of them held me forcibly while the others branded my hands, abdomen and ... with the rod. They called me a witch and told me to get out of the village,” Mangi Bai said and showed the scars.

Her case is pending in court, with none of the accused in Jail. Since the attack occurred before the 2015 Rajasthan anti-witch-hunting legislation was introduced, the case doesn’t mention that she was branded a witch and cast out of the village.

But even a year after the bill was passed, victims were awaiting justice. ...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...of-bhilwara/story-52YNXm9ZWAyr7zkdGjPRHL.html
 
Stopping Olukoya and Witch hunting in UK Black Communities
by Leo Igwe

Witchcraft related abuse is a very serious problem in African migrant communities in the UK. There is documented evidence that these abuses are linked to activities of African pastors and churches. Unfortunately efforts to address this problem are bogged down by concerns over racism, minority rights and abuse of religious liberty.

Vulnerable members of the African migrant communities in the UK - particularly children - are often tortured and even killed by relatives who accuse them of witchcraft. Many of such horrific treatments in the name of witchcraft go unreported because victims are often defenseless infants and the abuses take place in the name of religion, particularly pentecostal Christianity. Pentecostal churches are spreading rapidly across the African migrant communities in the West.

These churches are prosecuting a new wave of witch hunting because pentecostalism thrives on literal interpretations of the Bible and pentecostalists believe that witches should be suffered to the point of death - as written in the book of Exodus (22:18).

Though pentecostal pastors may not directly engage in these abuses, they are still nevertheless complicit in the crimes because their witchcraft preachings, healing and deliverance sermons incite violence, hatred and abuse towards vulnerable members of the population. So what is going on in the African migrant communities is a very complex phenomenon. ...

http://www.conatusnews.com/stopping-witch-hunting-in-uk-black-communities.html
 
Woman is burnt alive on bonfire after being accused of being a witch
Rob Waugh's Yahoo Blog 29 September 2016

A 73-year-old woman was doused in petrol and burned alive on top of a bonfire after local people accused her of being a witch, prosecutors said.
Prosecutor Hugo Mauricio said that Rosa Villar Jarionca was sentenced to death by the remote Shiringamazu Alto community in the Peruvian Amazon - after people claimed she made them sick through witchcraft.

Full article here,
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/woman-is-...-after-being-145841764.html?soc_src=social-sh
 
A man met an unfortunate and untimely death over the weekend when a mob burned him to death for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Uganda. The 57-year-old man, a butcher, was burned alive in his grass thatched house. Three suspects have been arrested for the crime, Ingenious Dragudu, the acting district police chief commander, told the Daily Monitor.

“We have arrested three people in connection to the killing and there should be no compromise on this because it is a barbaric act that should be condemned and should not continue in society,” he said.

Eye witnesses who said they were unable to stop the blaze. “Some of us never wanted the man to be burnt but the angry mob overpowered us, locked him inside the house and set it ablaze. By the time the police arrived, it was too late because the man had been burnt already,” an eye-witness told the Monitor anonymously for fear of retaliation from the community. ...

http://www.ibtimes.com/witches-are-...th-after-child-abductions-sacrificial-2428954
 
A man met an unfortunate and untimely death over the weekend when a mob burned him to death for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Uganda. The 57-year-old man, a butcher, was burned alive in his grass thatched house. Three suspects have been arrested for the crime, Ingenious Dragudu, the acting district police chief commander, told the Daily Monitor.

Splendid name for an acting district police chief commander.
 
:mad:

Jharkhand: Elderly couple killed for ‘witchcraft’; 3 arrested
This is the second case of murder on suspicion of witchcraft in Jharkhand in a week.
By: Express News Service | Ranchi | Updated: December 17, 2016 3:31 am

THREE PEOPLE were arrested on Friday on charges of beating an elderly couple to death and then burning their bodies in Tembra village of Jharkhand’s Simdega district on suspicion of practising witchcraft.
From initial interrogation of the arrested suspects, the police have learnt that they believed the couple — identified as Lohra Singh (70) and wife Chorati Devi (62) — had used witchcraft and was responsible for the death of four close relatives of the accused.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...ple-killed-for-witchcraft-3-arrested-4431274/
 
'They accused me of killing and eating my grandmother': Agony of Congo's 50,000 'child witches' who are brutally exorcised to 'beat the devil out of them'
  • There are around 50,000 children living on the streets of Kinshasa, all abandoned after being accused of witchcraft
  • The communities say they are capable of horrific crimes, drinking the blood and eating the flesh of their relatives
  • But a lot of the time the children are rejected simply because their parents cannot afford the extra mouth to feed
  • It means the children - some newborn - are left to fend for themselves, turning to crime and prostitution to survive
  • But there are people working to help these desperate children, and the UN's new 'global goals' hope that the drivers of this horrific tradition, poverty and a lack of education, will be completely eradicated in the next 15 years
  • MailOnline has visited Kinshasa to find out more about this horrific belief, and the impact it has on the children


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...xorcised-devil-beaten-them.html#ixzz4V5DXS8s0
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
Just awful. So much evil!
 
This is terrible. Especially when done to poor innocent children who can't fend for themselves. Perhaps it's the witch hunters who need a dam good beating.
 
Caught this story at an airport recently:
https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/why-is-papua-new-guinea-still-hunting-witches/

The idea of killing out-groups as a response to episodes of bad luck, blaming sorcery, is quite common as a theme in tribal societies. Africa, Australia, and the Americas all have examples I am familiar with. The advent of Christian missionaries does seem to have re-ignited some of these ideas however.
 
In fairness, witches can be dangerous. In some parts of Africa, albino people are killed and their body parts used for magic rituals.
 
In fairness, witches can be dangerous. In some parts of Africa, albino people are killed and their body parts used for magic rituals.

LOL. Catch-22. That somewhat begs the question of whether such practices are the work of witches or witch hunters:dunno:. In many cultures albinos are assumed to be the witches, hence the power of their flesh:cskull:. I prefer to separate my definitions clearly, into practical and scientifically identifiable groups such as "murderers" and "victims":gent:.
 
A bizarre but inbteresting story.

The San Francisco Witch Killers

DeLani R. Bartlette Feb 4

February is for lovers, so this month we’ll take a look at a rather rare type of serial killer: the folie a deux, or killer couples. We’ll start with what I believe to be the craziest killer couple: Suzan and James/Michael “Bear” Carson, the psycho “Witch Killer Cult” who terrorized San Francisco in the early 1980s.

Susan Barnes had been a seemingly normal suburban housewife in 1960s Scottsdale, Arizona. Her husband made good money, enabling her to be a stereotypical spoiled housewife. But she wanted more than that. She began taking LSD, mescaline, and peyote while she was hanging out with her sons’ high-school classmates. She also regularly seduced and slept with them — according to the rumor mill, she slept with 150 young men and boys. When she turned 35, she began to have delusions and hallucinations — or as she called them, “visions” — even when she wasn’t on drugs. This was actually nothing new; since she was a child, she believed she was psychic.

Needless to say the infidelity, drug use, and budding psychosis shattered her marriage. She reinvented herself, and started spelling her name with a “z” instead of an “s.” She had visions telling her she needed to find a soulmate, a partner, a loyal disciple. That’s when she met James Carson.

Originally from Oklahoma, Carson was also another non-conformist, middle-class dropout. Always bookish, he took a special interest in history, religions, and philosophy.

https://medium.com/@delanirbartlette/the-san-francisco-witch-killers-9c8acd6e915f
 
Another savage case.

Four women, all above 60 were dragged from their homes and beaten to death in a village in Gumla district of Jharkhand on Sunday, after being accused of witchcraft. The victims were identified as Chapa Bhagat, 62, and his wife Piri Devi, 60, and Umraav, 65, and his wife Fagani Devi, 62.

The victims were dragged out of their homes by a mob of about 10 villagers between 1 am and 3 am on Sunday who were armed with sticks. The mob proceeded to lock them up in one of the houses and thrash them on suspicion of being witches and practicing black magic. According to some reports, their throats were also slit.

It would be two hours before an alert was raised – by Damodar Singh, a social worker – and another hour before Sisai Police Station-in-charge Sudhir Prasad reached the scene. By that time the mob had dispersed and fled.

https://countercurrents.org/2019/07...ten-to-death-alleging-witchcraft-in-jharkhand
 
Four women, all above 60 were dragged from their homes and beaten to death in a village in Gumla district of Jharkhand on Sunday, after being accused of witchcraft. The victims were identified as Chapa Bhagat, 62, and his wife Piri Devi, 60, and Umraav, 65, and his wife Fagani Devi, 62.
Four women? I make that 2 men and 2 women.
 
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