Posts by whrin_admin

UAE: ‘Fake doctors in UAE closer to witchcraft’

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has warned the public against practices of fake doctors who provide medical treatment without the approval of the authorities.

“The society has foreseen some malpractices by a group of fake doctors, who are not licensed by the UAE health authorities, and claim that they have the ability to provide treatment for difficult cases.

“Such claims are closer to magic and witchcraft,” said Amin Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health and Licensing at the MOH.

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Zimbabwe: Man Kills Grandma Over Witchcraft, Flees

A Shamva mine worker is on the run after he allegedly killed his grandmother for “being a witch who cast evil spells” on him.

The 26 year old murder suspect, Luckmore Bhasi, allegedly struck the senior citizen’s head repeatedly with a hoe.

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Nigeria: Witch allegedly found in a compound in Uyo

“At about 1:30am, the caretaker in my compound screamed for help and we went out only to see an old witch in their kitchen sweeping the floor when all the doors of the kitchen had been locked the night before. She appeared in there obviously.

They quickly tied her up with rope and put her in the middle of the compound. When they started flogging her with broom, she started screaming and confessed. She said they were many but they left her behind and begged us not to kill her…”

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Nigeria: The Pervasiveness Of Witchcraft and Ritualism in Nigeria

Here is the main question: why is the belief in witchcraft and its allied activities so general in Nigeria to the extent that it affects the reaction of Nigerians in our approach to problems?

It is a truism that we have become so familiar with panorama experiences to the extent that ninety percent of Nigerians explain natural experiences, social problems et al with the witchcraft theory. This is seen in mob reactions and activities all around Nigeria. Once a complex and strange activity manifests itself, many Nigerians immediately take shelter under the witchcraft explanatory model.

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UK: Child sex trafficker Osezua Osolase pocketed £80,000 using juju magic to trick girls into slavery but must pay just £8

A Northfleet  security guard – who pocketed £80,000 by trading in child sex slaves – will have to repay… just £8.38!

And Osezua Osolase, 43, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence has also been given eight weeks to arrange for the bank transfer.

He had been convicted at Canterbury Crown Court last year on five counts of trafficking young girls, rape and sexual activity with a child using juju magic.

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Papua New Guinea: ‘A War on Witches’

Tanzania: Uchawi Upo: Embodied Experience and Anti-Witchcraft Practice in Mwanza, Tanzania

In Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city, it is commonly said that witchcraft exists (uchawi upo). However, witchcraft in Mwanza is more than just a discourse, but is an embodied everyday reality for Mwanzans regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic background.

People afflicted by witchcraft describe diverse experiences including physical and mental symptoms, involuntary spirit possession, relationship problems, economic issues, and fantastic encounters with otherworldly entities. As they seek restoration of wellness, afflicted individuals employ treatments located in seemingly oppositional “disciplines” such as traditional healing and revivalist Christianity. 

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UAE: ‘Sorceress’ extorts Dh4m from Emirati mom over ‘jinn’ claim

A woman claiming to be an exorcist embezzled more than Dh4 million from an Emirati woman telling her that her daughter would not be able to marry because she was gripped by jinn (spirits), a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Worried for her daughter for not getting married despite her growing age, the Emirati woman was told by one of her daughter’s acquaintances that she could take the girl to a friend who can identify her problem and solve it.

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India: High Court confirms life for two in human sacrifice case

The Madras High Court Bench here has confirmed the life sentence imposed by a lower court on a couple for having abducted a 15-month-old boy from Goripalayam Dargah here on July 2, 2010, and beheading him at Eral in Tuticorin district due to their superstitious belief in conducting human sacrifice to get rich.

Dismissing individual criminal appeals filed by the couple through a common judgment, a Division Bench of Justice A. Selvam and Justice V.S. Ravi held that it did not find any reason to interfere with the conviction and punishment imposed by the trial court in the gruesome murder of an innocent child as the prosecution had proved it beyond reasonable doubts.

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Gambia: Man allegedly kills 101-yr-old grandma over “witchcraft” claim

Tragic, but it was a drama when a 20-year-old young man allegedly stabbed his 101-year-old grandmother to death in the Upper River Region (URR) village of Misera-Ba after he was reported to have accused her of being a “witch”, the Daily Observer has gathered.

Police and other sources informed the Daily Observer earlier on Wednesday that the suspect, one Abdoulie Bahoum, who has been apprehended, murdered the old woman, Aji Mariama Nyang on Tuesday. Sources added that the accused person was quoted as saying that he saw his grandma in his dreams as a witch, hence warranting him to terminate her life.

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