Posts by whrin_admin

Uganda: ‘Return of ebyaffe doesn’t mean to revert to witchcraft’

The Vicar General of Kampala Archdiocese has told Christians that the return of Buganda properties does not mean people who should turn back to witchcraft. Msgr Charles Kasibante made the remarks during a sensitization briefing for hundreds of Christians in the on-going campaign to popularize the 22 Uganda martyrs ahead of Golden Jubilee celebrations since their canonization. 

He said the cultural properties should only help people know their culture and traditions. Mid-this month, the central government returned some of Buganda Kingdom’s property including 213 land titles.

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Ghana: Banishing ‘Witches’ in Northern Ghana

‘The woman has been banished’, Hamid, my research assistant called to inform me a few days ago. ‘Which woman?’ I asked. ‘The woman I told you about yesterday’, he said in a tone that sounded prophetic. Hamid is a teacher in a local school in Yendi, the traditional capital of the Dagbon state, as the Dagomba is politically described.

He confirms that the belief in witches is very strong among the people of Dagbon despite the widespread profession and practice of Islam.

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South Africa: Ritual murder suspects arrested

Limpopo police have arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the ritual killing of a 33-year-old, in Thohoyandou.

Mercy Ndou from Hamakuya, just outside Thohoyandou, went missing on May 15, 2014, after a shopping trip. According to SAPS provincial spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, her right leg and private parts were missing.

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Sri Lanka: Witch doctor proves bad medicine for barber, children escape by a hair’s breadth

The two children who were plucked from a watery grave, after their father threw them into the Nilwala Ganga in Matara on Thursday, are being held under police guard in a special enclosure at Matara Hospital.

According to HQI Prashantha, the father, a barber by profession, had consulted the witch doctor shortly after the just concluded Sinhala New Year, believing he had hit a bad patch, as his earnings had dropped and there was growing disharmony within the family.

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Zambia: Police Looking For Witchdoctor Who Initiated Children Into Witchcraft

Mufulira district commissioner, Chanda Kabwe, confirmed in an interview that the matter was reported to his office by five concerned parents of some of the children. Police in Mufulira are looking for a named witch doctor reported to have initiated more than 20 children into witchcraft in the district.

Chanda Kabwe in an interview said the witch doctor tattooed the juveniles, gave them medicine to take and told them that they would be good fighters, protected and intelligent at school. The witch doctor is said to have charged the children an undisclosed amount of money.

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Zimbabwe: Stark naked ‘witch’ caught red-handed after Makandiwa’s Judgement Night

In a case of suspected witchcraft, a Chitungwiza Family from Unit F that worships at Prophet Makandiwa’s UFI church was flabbergasted beyond measure to return home Monday morning after the immensely popular event dubbed Judgment Night 2, only to find a nude 24 year old “witch” stuck near their house, with a keen excited mob keeping an eye on her.

According to witnesses, the 24 year old Catherine Mugwande reportedly retired to bed on Sunday evening after watching a scary Witchcraft related African Movie. The following morning she woke up stark naked sitting on a pile of dry maize stems. She reportedly claimed that she had no idea how she ended up there.

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Philippines: Three Brothers Brutally Murder Their Mother And Eat Her Organs In Would-Be Ritual Killing

Last Wednesday, three filipino brothers brutally murdered their mother and ate her organs in what police are calling a ritual killing.

According to ABS-CBN News, neighbors reported hearing odd noises coming from the family’s home days before the body of 56-year-old Musala Amil was found in Ampatuan, Philippines.

The body was discovered to have several parts and a great deal of blood missing. Investigators believe the sons ate parts of their mother’s body raw after a murder that took place.

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Democratic Republic of Congo: Witnessing ‘child witch’ exorcism in the DR Congo

In 2010, Unicef reported 20,000 children accused of witchcraft were living on the streets of DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa. In the DR Congo, accusing a child of being possessed is a criminal offence, a law that has been in place for several years. But in 2008 I travelled to Kinshasa to see if it was making any difference and, at that time, the answer was not at all.

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Nigeria: Woman stuck under Lagos drainage accused of being a flying witch

One young woman was rescued from a gutter around Abalti Barracks, Ojuelegba,Lagos on Friday morning.

Easy media reports that a passer-by spotted her calling for help when he ran to the barracks to get help. It took extra effort to cut open the barricade and a good Samaritan to bring her out. She came out stack naked.

Upon interrogation, she said in tears “My name is Amudat Jimoh, it was God that sent me here. He said I should confess my sins so that I don’t die, please I need water to drink, help me. I don’t know how I found myself here, please help me.”

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South Africa: Mystery yet reality – the practice of ‘Juju’ and human trafficking

During my career as investigator with the Hawks I have stumbled across the notion of ‘Juju’ on a number of occasions whilst investigating cases of human trafficking. My limited knowledge of ‘Juju’ basically consisted of an understanding that it was a method used by Nigerian human traffickers to manipulate and instill fear into their victims… 

Marinda*, a trafficking victim, was an educated adult female who came from a middle-class family. After Marinda’s* rescue I obtained her statement in which she recounted a “supernatural” and “evil” experience involving one of her Nigerian captors. 

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