Fighting Modern-Day Witch Hunts in India’s Remote Northeast - The New York Times

Not only am I reminded of the Salem 'Witch Trials' but also the tail end of the Satanic Panic and Cameron Todd Willingham who on February 17, 2004 was murdered by the state of Texas. [I say murdered because Willingham was innocent but beyond the scope of this posting.]

Why you might ask?

In his trial, Tim Gregory (master’s degree in marriage and family issues with no published works in the field of sociopathic behavior) was cited as stating, ",,,I see there’s an association many times with cultive-type of activities. A focus on death, dying. Many times individuals that have a lot of this type of art have interest in satanic-type activities."

At one point, Jackson showed Gregory Exhibit No. 60—a photograph of an Iron Maiden poster that had hung in Willingham’s house—and asked the psychologist to interpret it. “This one is a picture of a skull, with a fist being punched through the skull,” Gregory said; the image displayed “violence” and “death.” Gregory looked at photographs of other music posters owned by Willingham. “There’s a hooded skull, with wings and a hatchet,” Gregory continued. “And all of these are in fire, depicting—it reminds me of something like Hell. And there’s a picture—a Led Zeppelin picture of a falling angel. . . . I see there’s an association many times with cultive-type of activities. A focus on death, dying. Many times individuals that have a lot of this type of art have interest in satanic-type activities.”

It is this mentality of the prevailing culture that allows for it.  We have our Satanic Panic, India has its witchcraft.  And for those that have any doubts as where a theocracy may lead, once a system of law is based on religion, anyone can be suspect.

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.

Rabha's claim to fame A State in India Just Outlawed Witch-Hunting, but Many Fear That Won’t Stop the Practice.

Fighting Modern-Day Witch Hunts in India’s Remote Northeast - The New York Times

Mother strangles 6 year-old son to ward off Jinn on faith healer's advice -

An unusual murder took place when a mother killed her 6 year-old son after a faith healer she often visited, advised her to commit the act.

According to details, a woman who belonged to the Wandala Dayal Shah area of Ferozewala Tehsil, killed her six-year old son by strangling him with a piece of cloth. The mother had committed the heinous act on advice of a faith healer who had told her the act was necessary in order to ward off a Jinn that had taken over her. Sources revealed that the faith healer had told the mother that if she did not kill her son to ward off the Jinn, she would end up being dead.

Mother strangles 6 year-old son to ward off Jinn on faith healer's advice -

The sinister truth behind India’s 'witch' killings - Channel NewsAsia

Despite the intensity of blind faith that drives these attacks, experts believe it is just a veil to disguise the real motives. Data is revealing that accusers tend to be those who live in close proximity to the victim, a clue to the motives.

Lawyer and leading activist in New Delhi, Ms Madhu Mehra, told INSIGHT: “They’re accused by neighbours, by extended family members. We have seen a couple of cases where the man remarried and his children accused the stepmother of witchcraft.”

Family disputes over property, land rights of women and gender conflicts tend to be factors that lead to women being labelled as witches.For example, a woman who voices her opinions, who refuses sexual advances, or whose harvests turn out better than her neighbours’, tend to be most at risk of being labelled witches, say experts.

“When the woman is a widow or does not have a son, or husband has left her, or even if she is living in her father’s house but does not have a brother, people hatch schemes to get hold of the property. And we have also seen that when a woman is vocal, when she talks too much or has leadership qualities, the woman is branded a witch in order to control her,” said Ms Sachi Kumari, a social worker and activist who has saved many such victims.

The sinister truth behind India’s 'witch' killings - Channel NewsAsia

Indian Muslim accused of beef smuggling beaten to death | World news | The Guardian

I am going to admit that parsing news stories concerning religious based crimes, particularly those from India, is becoming difficult.  With that said, another example of debauchery inspired by religious belief.

Villagers in northern India beat a Muslim man to death and injured four others who were accused of smuggling cows to be slaughtered for beef, police have said.
 
The survivors were arrested for alleged animal cruelty.

Hardline Hindus have been calling for a national ban on cow slaughter, triggering mob violence. A Muslim man was lynched in Uttar Pradesh state last month over false rumours that his family had eaten beef for dinner.

Hindus worship cows as a sacred animal and some states have a ban on their slaughter. The country of 1.3 billion is about 81% Hindu and 13% Muslim.

Officer Somya Sambhasivam said police were searching for villagers who fled after the attack on Wednesday in Sarahan, a village in Himachal Pradesh state. The area is about 160 miles (260km) north of Delhi.

Indian Muslim accused of beef smuggling beaten to death | World news | The Guardian

Prophet sells 'anointed' exam pens... the more you pay the more you pass - Nehanda Radio

Prophet Sham Hungwe of House of Grace International Church, who operates at Machipisa Shopping Centre, distributed hundreds of pens to people who are about to sit for exams.

The pens which cost at least 15 cents were being sold for different amounts ranging between US$1 and US$20 depending on what you can afford.

Prophet Sham said those who are sitting for their exams only needed faith and the anointed pen to pass. “It is anointed and I declare passes when your children sit for exams; when you sit for your exams ,” he said.
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"They (pens) are said to work for anyone who is sitting for any test. My son is not very bright and I think this will help him. With the knowledge he has acquired and this pen from the man of God, I think it is going to work.”

One female congregants parted ways with more than US$10 for a pen as they were told the more they give, the more their faith and the more their children will pass.

Prophet sells 'anointed' exam pens... the more you pay the more you pass - Nehanda Radio

Psychic sues New York for escaped inmate reward money | Fusion

A Texas psychic who claims to have “spiritual gifts from the almighty” is suing the state of New York for the reward money promised to anyone who helped find escaped inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in June that the state would pay a $100,000 bounty to anyone who provided information leading to the capture of the escapees, whose three-week prison break captured the attention of cable news channels this summer.

Self-described psychic Eric Drake writes in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that he called Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office and gave them this key information,,,

[,,,]
This isn’t the first time Drake says he’s assisted with a law enforcement action. He says he gave Washington, D.C. police details that would have helped them catch the snipers who killed 17 people in 2002, but that his advice was ignored.

Drake writes that he plans to use the New York reward money to publish a book of his prophecies. It doesn’t sound like it will be a pleasant read: “The Plaintiff’s future predictions regarding the United States of America, which is contained in his new book are 1000 times greater than the suffering of the great depression,” he writes.

Psychic sues New York for escaped inmate reward money | Fusion

Child murder was human sacrifice - The Times of India

 In yet another twist in the New Town child murder case, police now say that the killing was an occult sacrifice and not a spur-of-the-moment crime as the prime accused — granny Aarti Naskar and aunt Kavita Naskar — had made it out to be.

Police are surprised by how long Aarti and Kavita managed to hold out under relentless interrogation. The murder was committed on Mahalaya, discovered two days later, on October 14, and it was not until October 24 that the duo cracked. They had all along tried to mislead the investigation. Even after confessing on October 17, the 63-year-old granny and Kavita stuck to a cooked-up story to dodge harsher charges for a planned murder, say police. "They are still trying to hoodwink us. You can imagine their resolve," said an investigator.

Macabre as it may sound, little Preeti Naskar was killed just 2km from the New Town IT hub because Aarti and Kavita were told by a tantric that if the child were sacrificed on the "auspicious Mahendra jog" — Amavasya on Mahalaya — they would gain "unheard of wealth" and a long life, say police. Kavita is a graduate and took pride in being the most educated in the family.

Child murder was human sacrifice - The Times of India


See also:: Other recent articles of note,,,

• Our 9-yr-old child was human sacrifice victim: Parents to CM Siddaramaiah 
• Tamil Nadu to probe Madurai `human sacrifice'

ADDENDUM::Indian trucker was killed over rumor that he was carrying beef - LA Times

Some 2,000 people took to the streets Monday in an Indian-controlled area of Kashmir to protest the killing of a teenage Muslim truck driver who was burned to death in the cab of his truck, apparently because he was wrongly suspected of transporting beef.

It was the third instance in recent weeks in which a Muslim man has been killed over beef. Cows are considered sacred by Hindus.

Zahid Rasool Bhat, 18, the truck driver who died Sunday of burns, was buried Monday in his village, Botengo, in South Kashmir. Hindu militants are suspected of carrying out the attack, in which gasoline bombs were reportedly thrown into his vehicle on Oct. 9. The incident was caught on security cameras.

Bhat was reportedly carrying coal in his truck, not beef.
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Five people were arrested for murder, rioting, conspiracy and explosives charges, according to Waheed-ur-Rahman, spokesman of the state government. He said one had fled and was the target of a manhunt. He said the case would be held in a “fast-track” court designed to speed up India’s typically slow judicial process.

Indian trucker was killed over rumor that he was carrying beef - LA Times

Horrifying moment girl 'possessed by the devil' screams and convulses after playing Ouija board app - Mirror Online

Take this story for what it is worth.  What I find fascinating are some of the comments:

She opened a door she is powerless to close...foolish little girl.
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People laugh at the thought of being possessed, but the truth is, it is a very real and extremely dangerous possibility when you play around in satan's world. You may get a whole lot more than what you bargained for, and it could mean the destruction of your soul. So don't play around with satanic things or you me sorry beyond your wildest nightmares!!
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The devil's greatest trick is to convince us that he doesn't exist.

Rational thought goes by the way-side when religious superstition is involved.

Shocking footage has emerged of a young girl 'possessed by the devil' after playing with a Ouija board mobile phone app.

The 18-year-old, identified as Patricia Quispe, is seen convulsing as paramedics try to restrain her.

In a deep rasping voice she screams "666" followed by "let me go, let me go".

According to witnesses, the young woman from Lima, Peru, had been playing with her friends on a mobile phone version of the board game that evokes the spirits.

But when she returned home her parents noticed that she seemed to be unwell.

They said she began fitting and foaming at the mouth and her voice deepened into a raspy tone.

Horrifying moment girl 'possessed by the devil' screams and convulses after playing Ouija board app - Mirror Online

How the British Army Spread Rumors of Black Magic and Witchcraft in 1970s Northern Ireland | VICE | United States

The Information Policy group may not have started the rumors, but they fed them in order to smear paramilitary organizations. It was only one aspect of a broader black propaganda strategy, which also relied on more "classic" defamatory rumors involving misappropriated money, communism, and drug trafficking. Their aim was to establish a link in the public opinion between the rise of paramilitary groups' violence and things that both the protestant and catholic communities would find objectionable. Ireland's strong religious culture and supernatural folklore gave the military the idea of this new kind of threat which could also encourage people—especially children and teenagers—to stay home at night. 

I called Richard Jenkins up for a chat about this weird phenomenon.

How the British Army Spread Rumors of Black Magic and Witchcraft in 1970s Northern Ireland | VICE | United States

Mob Attack, Fueled by Rumors of Cow Slaughter, Has Political Overtones in India - The New York Times

There is also a powerful political motivation behind their activism.

Many leaders of Save the Cow here are also prominent local organizers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., which is vying to oust the socialist party that leads Uttar Pradesh, a vast northern state with more than 200 million residents, including the 20,000 in this village. Mr. Tomar, 24, for example, is the general secretary of the local B.J.P. youth wing. Mr. Nagar, 33, is the state secretary of the B.J.P. youth wing.

By week’s end, they and many other B.J.P. leaders were blaming the governing party in Uttar Pradesh for the attack in Bisada. The state’s B.J.P. president, Lakshmikant Bajpayee, said in a telephone interview that while he “most definitely” disagreed with mob violence, “the blame for this incident lies squarely with the state’s administration and the law and order machinery, its police.” The failure by the police to respond quickly and forcefully to rumors of a cow’s slaughter understandably enraged Bisada’s Hindu residents, he said.

“This is a fight between the cow caretaker and the cow murderer in the state,” he said. “Had the administration done their job at protecting our cows well, these men would not have been forced to take the law in their hands.”

Save the Cow and B.J.P. leaders here have also roundly condemned the decision by the police to bring murder charges. In their view, the death of Mr. Ikhlaq was at most the unintended byproduct of a chaotic, highly charged situation of his own making. “He slipped and his head hit the road and he died,” Mr. Tomar said, adding: “These things happen. It’s a mob.”

,,,

Days after the killing, the Ikhlaq family was still too shocked and overwhelmed to even begin picking up the broken furniture or repairing the shattered doors. Scores of police officers protected their home on all sides, and a steady parade of journalists made their way down the alley to ask the same basic question: Why were the Ikhlaqs singled out?

“We have been living in this village for decades and never picked as much as a fight with anyone,” Mrs. Ikhlaq said quietly. Her daughter, Shaista, 18, was reeling from having recognized several neighbors in the mob that attacked them so relentlessly.

“If they suspected we had slaughtered a cow, why did they not file a police complaint against us?” Shaista Ikhlaq asked.

“Who gave them the right to kill my father?”

Mob Attack, Fueled by Rumors of Cow Slaughter, Has Political Overtones in India - The New York Times

See also:

• Inside the Indian village where a mob killed a man for eating beef
• Brother of Indian man murdered for eating beef calls for calm

Malawi: Manerela+ Condemns Faith Healing - allAfrica.com

Think religious based superstition is harmless?

Malawi Network of Religious Leaders living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (MANERELA+) has urged churches in the country to stop discouraging people from taking medical drugs.

Programs Manager for Manerela+, Bruce Tushabe told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that some churches have been for some time encouraging people to believe in faith healing instead of taking their medical drugs as prescribed by medical doctors.

"We are facing the challenge of religious practices where some church leaders encourage people living with HIV/AIDS to stop taking Anti Retro Viral (ARV) that help boost the immune system.

"Instead, they are told to believe in faith healing which does not work with the immune system at all," said Tushabe.

,,,

"Whether someone gets healed by faith or not, church leaders are not supposed to tell anyone to stop medication," Banda explained.

Malawi: Manerela+ Condemns Faith Healing - allAfrica.com

Macabre! 4-yr-old boy `sacrificed' in Andhra Pradesh - The Times of India

According to The Hindu,  "Superintendent of police Ch. Srikanth said, 'This is a first-of-its-kind incident in Prakasam district.'' He added that the accused had a reputation in the village of keeping ties with practitioners of tantric rituals, and had on Tuesday night made an unsuccessful attempt to abduct an 18-month-old girl."

As noted by C Seshaiah, a member of the Indian Rationalists movement, "Such things might have happened in these parts during British times but they are uncommon in Independent India though animal sacrifices are often performed to appease villages deities." 

In a gruesome instance of human sacrifice, a villager severed the head of a four-year-old child and offered his blood to Goddess Kali seeking "divine powers". The macabre incident took place in Scheduled Castes colony in the remote Pokur village at Valetivaripalem mandal in Prakasam district on Wednesday.

Police recovered the sickle used by the accused, P Tirumala Rao (35), to kill the boy, Manu Sagar, at his residence. Enraged villagers caught hold of Rao and set him on fire. He was taken to Kandukur hospital with 40% burns. Villagers said Rao performed black magic and various pujas as he believed he would attain divine powers and wealth by human sacrifice. The accused is believed to have filled the blood in a bottle and offered it to deities.

Macabre! 4-yr-old boy `sacrificed' in Andhra Pradesh - The Times of India

Accused 'witches' dying in PNG | SBS News

Oxfam country director Esmie Sinapa says women are being accused of witchcraft when the real issue is often about land rights - and many have died because they couldn't get help soon enough.

"Papua New Guinea needs to declare an emergency on sorcery-related violence - it is widespread," she told the inquiry into Australia's PNG aid program in Canberra on Tuesday.

Accused 'witches' dying in PNG | SBS News

Mystery fires guts down homestead | The Chronicle

A SERIES of mysterious fires that start from thin air have burnt down a homestead and forced a family from Gwanda in Matabeleland South to flee. The nine-member family is now living at an open space away from their home after the fire incidents. The Nkomo family of Tabi Line in Magaya village, Ward 17 yesterday told The Chronicle how the inexplicable fires have hounded them since October last year.

A police officer reportedly ran for dear life when one of the fires started in his presence last week. The officer, the family said, had come to take a statement as police suspected arson. Philemon Nkomo, the head of the family, whose hands were burnt as he tried to douse flames from one of the fires, said he had been traumatised by the infernos that reduced his four-hut-homestead to ashes.
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Villagers in the area said they were shocked with the incidents and were afraid to assist the Nkomo family. They said they suspected the “haunted family” could have wronged someone and the mysterious fires were some form of revenge. “We feel pity for the children but we fear that if we intervene, the terrible fires might end up spreading to our homes. We have tried asking the family about the issue but failed to get any explanation,” said a neighbour Altabel Ndlovu.

“We have never seen such a thing before but in other cultures they call it ngozi (avenging spirits). In our Ndebele culture we have never seen such.” The villagers said they believed the family knew the root of the problem but was hiding it.

Mystery fires guts down homestead | The Chronicle

Coyote Tied Up And Hung In Sick Ritual Finally Gets The Dignity He Deserves

Still baffled how the "in the name of religion" mentality can be used to justify inhumane actions to man and beast.

Eight African lions, a mountain lion, two lynxes and a coyote are moving to their new home at The Wild Animal Sanctuary after an epic rescue from Mexico.

One of these incredibly lucky dozen, CanCan, has a story that is as heartbreaking as it is bizarre.

The 12-year-old coyote was rescued from a place where he was used for Santeria rituals. These rituals involved tying his front paws together and hanging him in the air for days — sometimes WEEKS — on end. 

As noted by Doubtful News, 

There is dispute over use of animals in this religious tradition. Sacrifices mostly seem to involve chickens where the followers say they are killed humanely. There remains in some states laws against killing without any exemptions. The Supreme Court took up the question in 1993 with specific reference to Santeria.

However, this is the first public account we’ve heard of an animal being tortured,,,

Coyote Tied Up And Hung In Sick Ritual Finally Gets The Dignity He Deserves

Evil at work - The Voice Newspaper

So I was drawn to this short article due to the mention of "evil spirit[s]".  Although I was disappointed that I could not find more information.  There is reference to the Eloyi Christian Church, in Wiki, that originated in Botswana in 1955.  Founded by Jakoba Keiphile in 1955, "[t]he church has attracted much attention for its dramatic séances and exorcisms of demons."

Being that the foundation of the church is in the revivalist movement of the late nineteenth century and has a flair for "dramatic" leads me to believe, they are the main purveyors of the superstitious mumbo -jumbo mentioned in the article.

Relating her family’s  ordeal, Dorcas Nyambe of Bokaa ward in Mahalapye, said when the fires started the family was away. “I received a call from a neighbour telling me they were trying to put out a fire through the window my brother had left open.

“I arrived to find the yard full of people, but they had managed to subdue it,” Nyambe said.

She further stated that since they started, the fires have been occurring at least every two days until Eloyi gave them ‘holy’ water to place in the middle of the yard.
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Bitone further revealed that they had consulted traditional doctors who have told them a jealous neighbour had sent them the evil spirit. “When they see us passing with groceries, they burn inside. Eloyi have also prophesied the same thing.”

Bitone also appealed to any good Samaritan who can help  them rid of the fires which he says are called diphera.

Evil at work - The Voice Newspaper

‘Spiritual virus’ behind Malaysia’s paranormal obsession, ex-Shariah judge says | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online

So we have a "so-called  'Islamic' medical expert” claiming bad juju. Then a former "Shariah" judge said that such a pronouncement, regarding “paranormal beings” causing such events, was false and indicative of a “spiritual virus” infecting the “medical expert” and members of the public, and that this was a straying from Islam.  A wholly made up religion based on an all powerful sky daddy.  Makes sens to me, how 'bout you?

Terengganu’s former chief Shariah judge today panned a so-called “Islamic” medical expert’s claim that paranormal beings was a possible cause for Malaysia’s humiliating 10-0 loss to UAE in the World Cup qualifier.

Datuk Ismail Yahya said the penchant for these Malaysians to fall back on such claims could be because they were infected with a “spiritual virus” inside them that made them resort to practices that were not consistent with the teachings of Islam.

“My view about the supernatural which Malaysians always make a connection [with], between a disaster or loss means spiritual virus (sic),” Ismail told Malay Mail Online by email when contacted.

“Spiritual virus can come through magic, the environment such as their homes, the attitude of someone obsessed with things or the practice of the teaching of ‘unreligious’ mysticism,” he added.

Ismail had been asked to comment on a report earlier today by Malay tabloid Kosmo, which cited a purported “Islamic” medical expert Datuk Shamsuri Shafie as claiming that “makhluk halus” or paranormal beings may be to blame for Malaysia’s loss in the qualifying match on Wednesday.

‘Spiritual virus’ behind Malaysia’s paranormal obsession, ex-Shariah judge says | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online

'Evil-spirited' woman killed in Bangladesh church ucanews.com

Police in Bangladesh's northern Rajshahi district arrested six tribal Santal Catholics on Aug. 26 for allegedly beating a woman to death in the name of "releasing her from an evil spirit" inside a local Catholic Church.

The suspects allegedly took Fulmoni Mardi, 60, into St. John Mary Vianney Church in Mundumala on the night of Aug. 25 and beat her to "free her from the spell of an evil spirit," a police official said.

"The woman is a victim of superstition and maltreatment. We found serious injuries on her body which caused her death," said Anwar Hossain, officer in-charge at Tanore police station, which covers Mundumala.

"We have arrested six people after the victim’s daughter Shefali Hembrom filed a murder case. We will arrest more people for investigation and interrogation if necessary," the officer added.

The woman’s family members and relatives said they took her to the group as local villagers had talked about their miraculous healing power.
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The parish priest, Father Michael Corraya, said he was asleep when people came to the church with the woman and beat her to death. The priest denied backing the group but admitted that he "partially" believed in their healing power.

"I have heard from people that they were healing people, because we do use charismatic prayers and Holy Water to heal sick people. But I never thought these people would go to such extremes," said Father Corraya.
The incident shows a challenging reality for the Catholic Church in the tribal-majority Dinajpur and Rajshahi dioceses of northern Bangladesh.

Thousands of tribal people, including Santals, were converted to Christianity after 1904 by European missionaries. However, traditional belief and superstitions are still common among the mostly poor and illiterate tribal people, said Father Harun Hembrom, secretary of the diocesan Justice and Peace Commission in Rajshahi and a tribal Santal himself.

'Evil-spirited' woman killed in Bangladesh church ucanews.com

See also:

Six Tribal Santal Catholics Kill Bangladeshi Woman to Release the “Evil Spirit” Inside

Police Hunt ‘Exorcist’ Whose Ritual Killed Two Women ‹ Newsweek Pakistan

Have you ever noticed that it is women who are at the receiving end of these ideadly, treatments in the name of superstition and religion.

Police are hunting an “exorcist” over the death of a woman and her daughter who suffocated in a botched fire ritual to rid them of their demons, officials said.

The killings took place in Kot Addu, a rural town in southern Punjab, where many rely on traditional healers and black magic to cure their ailments.

The 40-year-old woman and her 15-year-old daughter were taken to a so-called holy man on Monday by a relative who believed they were possessed, district police chief Awais Ahmed Malik told AFP. They both died of suffocation when the practitioner locked them in a room and lit a fire to expel their demons, he added.
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Faith healers are common across Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, with the practice rooted in mystic Sufi lore. A cure-all to some and for others a scam that preys on people’s superstitions, black magicians continue to thrive despite the disapproval of some hardline schools of Islam.

Police Hunt ‘Exorcist’ Whose Ritual Killed Two Women ‹ Newsweek Pakistan