A middle aged man,Vincent Igwe of Enyikpe Ulayi community in Ado local government area of Benue State has been allegedly murdered by his siblings for his alleged involvement in witchcraft and sorcery. Full report here
The Miss Uganda – UK chapter, Gladys Kyatungire, has asked the youth in Gulu District to boost vigilance and act like spiritual soldiers to fight child sacrifice which is “tearing the community apart”. Full story here
Well it has been a really interesting first couple of weeks at the helm of WHRIN. Lots of great contacts are being made around the world and it certainly feels like the organisation is moving in the right direction. We have various projects in the pipeline for 2013 such as developing country reports that will help to assess the scale of witchcraft accusations and human rights violations in different countries. It looks like the first country may be Nepal where accusations against women are widespread. We are looking to develop this report with Nepalese NGO – PPR Nepal- who have been active in this for some time now.
We are also looking forward to developing the training programme in the UK and I will be travelling to London next week to meet some experienced colleagues in order to discuss how we can develop an excellent programme for practitioners in the UK. Watch this space for more updates!
I must admit though that whilst I had some knowledge of the scale of the problem around the world I was quite unprepared for discovering the true scale of witchcraft accusations and the subsequent, often horrific, abuses that occur due to this belief. You will see from our Latest News page that there are cases being reported nearly every day and these must surely only represent the tip of the ice-berg and a very anglophone ice-berg at that! It can be quite depressing stuff to be honest, reading these reports regularly and I will be trying my best to keep us all sane and positive feeling by focusing as much as possible on the positive interventions taking place around the world over the coming weeks and months.
Durban – In what is being hailed as a landmark case, a Zululand traditional healer has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit a crime after he allegedly gave muti to a suspected rhino poacher to help him evade arrest. see more here
JAIPUR: It appears that the government machinery has no ways and means to curb incidents where women are killed, tortured or ostracized after a section of villagers brand them as “witches”. These incidents are unabated in the tribal districts of the state including -Rajsamand, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Pratapgarh and Sirohi. Full coverage here
A 48 year old woman, Fusa, is currently languishing in a ‘witch camp’ in Kukuo in Northern Ghana. If she is not relocated and rehabilitated soon, Fusa, like other many victims of witchcraft accusation will spend the rest of her life in this remote village. See full report here
Police in Rajasthan rounded up a dozen people Monday for attempting to set ablaze a 40-year woman after branding her as a witch, police said. Full news report here
This is a short audio video explaining the subtleties that can occur during jinn possession. More here
Young women and girls are being lured from their home countries with offers of work and trafficked into Britain, only to be forced into prostitution. Authorities have uncovered a trend where West African ‘juju’ witchcraft is used to manipulate them into submission. VoR takes an in-depth look at the issue. Full radio coverage here
Days after banning consumption of liquor, gambling and playing of obscene songs, a panchayat in Bihar’s Madhepura district has again cracked the whip — this time against those branding any woman a witch. More here
