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Gambia: 1,000 ‘witches’ arrested and drugged by ‘witch doctors’ in Gambia

Amnesty International called on the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup and has claimed he can cure Aids, to halt the campaign and bring those responsible to justice.
Police officers, soldiers and some of the president’s personal security guards accompanied the “witch doctors” in the series of round-ups, witnesses said. In the most recent incident, which took place on March 9, paramilitary police armed with guns and shovels surrounded the village of Sintet before dawn.
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Nepal: Victims of witchcraft accusations still not rehabilitated

In the 21st century, when women of most countries of the world are climbing the ladders of development, women in Nepal have not been able to move ahead by shunning malpractices like witchcraft.

Many have lost their lives and some have been compelled to be displaced and some are living a wretched life physically and mentally. Raj Kumari Rana Tharu, 60, was tortured by her daughter by relation on the charge of aborting her pregnancy through witchcraft.

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Tanzania: Fresh witchcraft killings in Mara

Witchcraft beliefs are associated with the spate of women killings which has been reported in Butiama District, Mara Region for the past four months, The Citizen on Sunday has been informed.

Interviews conducted by this paper have established that small gold miners are said to be behind the spate of killings.

Many people have pointed an accusing finger at the government over failure to contain the killings, despite volunteering information which would have helped the law enforcers to nab people suspected to be behind them.

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UK: This Christian preacher should not have been allowed to bring her ‘witch hunt’ into this country

Helen Ukpabio runs an evangelical Christian organisation in West Africa called the Liberty Gospel Church. When she was consecrated the first “lady apostle” politicians and minor celebrities attended the ceremony.

In the film, End of the Wicked, by Ukpabio’s film production company, Liberty Films, part of the Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries franchise, child actors are shown to eat human flesh and murder their parents. She has defended the film as being fiction, just “like Harry Potter”.

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Saudi Arabia: KSA facing increased cases of witchcraft

Residents in the Kingdom are reporting a dramatic increase in the incidents of black magic, said to be practiced by mostly expats. The phenomenon is rampant in the Western Province, which records higher numbers in comparison with the other parts in the Kingdom, according to officials. Makkah and Madinah have recorded the highest number of cases, sources have said.

More than 85 percent of witchcraft-related cases registered in Makkah’s courts involve expats, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Justice.

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India: Baby girl found dead in river, human sacrifice suspected

Police of Friday in Raigarh found a dead body of a baby girl in a local river. Locals have suspected it to be a case of human sacrifice.

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Belize: Woman, 82, says she is victim of witchcraft

Zetora Johnson, 82, of Baracat Street in Belize City, claims that witchcraft is being used against her by a man whom she knows, who is demanding $250 from her to cure her.

Johnson, speaking with Amandala today, told us that she has refused to pay him, and now, she cannot sleep at night and feels “all kinda things” moving in all parts of her body, and her legs and ankles are swollen.

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Nigeria: Youths uncover baby factory in Ogun, set building ablaze

There was pandemonium in the Akinremi Estate, Adigbe, Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday after some youths discovered a baby factory around Vulcaniser Bus Stop.

The incident comes barely two weeks after eight women were rescued from a baby factory in the Akute area of the state.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the youths, who thought the building was a ritual killers’ den broke into the compound. In a fit of rage, the youths were said to have set two vehicles ablaze as well as the one-storey building.

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Canada: Vancouver surgeon gives hope to people hunted for their body parts

In late 2012, Vancouver plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Hill gave a Tanzanian boy with little hope in life the chance at an education by replacing his thumb with one of his toes. He is now able to hold a pen.

The boy, who has albinism, was 12 years old when hit men paid by a witch doctor chopped off his right thumb, two of his fingers and badly injured his opposite arm. They were after his body parts, worth thousands on the black market due to a deep-rooted belief that they are endowed with magical powers. His parents were complicit in the attack.

This fall, Hill and a medical team from the University of B.C. will travel to East Africa, donating their time and expertise to help victims of similar attacks.

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USA: Can Nightmares Cause Death? Spirit Possession? Mental Illness?

A lot of the research on nightmares suggests these events test the strength of one’s mind. If the mind is not strong, nightmares can take hold with greater force and the torment can extend beyond one’s dreams.

Dr. Patrick McNamara of the Boston University School of Medicine looks at nightmares in a modern clinical context that also takes into account the history of dream phenomena in many cultures. He connects nightmares with a world of malevolent spirits.

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