Papua New Guinea students share video appearing to show women tortured for 'witchcraft' | World news | The Guardian

As the Independent notes, "Papua New Guinea, a small, mostly unexplored nation off Australia’s north-eastern coast, has consistently recorded endemic levels of violence against women. A 2013 study in The Lancet found 41 per cent of men on Bougainville Island, PNG, had raped a non-partner."

A shocking video has emerged which purports to show the torture of four women suspected of witchcraft in a Papau New Guinea village.

Sorcery-related violence and murder has long been an issue in the island nation, but government efforts to end it have failed to have an impact or even see one conviction.

The video shows at least four women who have been stripped, tied up, burned and beaten. They are prodded and threatened with machetes while being questioned by a group of men. The Guardian has obtained an edited version of the video but has chosen not to publish it.

The Guardian was told by two PNG sources the women were accused of sorcery after a young man fell ill in a village in Enga province in August.

Social media posts said the women were accused of “invisibly” taking the man’s heart, and then putting it back after they were tortured. In their attackers’ eyes this would also prove their guilt as sorcerers.
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Belief in witchcraft remains strong in the country, particularly in the highlands, although it has been noted that with increasing intermarriage and travel between regions, the beliefs are spreading to areas where they previously didn’t have a hold.

Samuel Basil, the PNG deputy opposition leader, said whole communities were taking part in torturing suspected victims. “It’s very hard for police to act when whole community is involved, and there’s no witness to testify,” Basil told the Guardian.

Basil said PNG police departments – particularly in rural and remote areas – were hugely under-resourced and could rarely intervene in an incident even if they witnessed it.

Boosting police numbers to enforce laws and educating people about sorcery were key, he said.

Papua New Guinea students share video appearing to show women tortured for 'witchcraft' | World news | The Guardian

Stop Transporting Exodus 22:18 to Africa, Evangelists; It’s Killing and Torturing Children.

Exodus 22:18 says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Here in the states, where we don’t take the Old Testament seriously and that verse is an embarrassment most Christians would prefer to ignore, it doesn’t have too much of an affect.

But as the influence of Christianity is waning in the West, fundamentalist Christianity is being exported to other populations.  And they, like the Old Testament “God,” apparently, do believe that there are witches. >br>
In Swaziland, as recently as 2013, there was a law banning witches from flying above a height of 150 metres.

In the Central African Republic, as of 2010, witch cases took up 40% of the court system’s case load (You know how much we try drug crimes here in the states?  For reference, that’s only 12% of our case load).

In another story written in 2014 about seven witches killed in Tanzania (East Africa) it is noted: “A local rights group, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), has estimated as many as 500 “witches” are lynched every year, based on reports that counted some 3, 000 people killed between 2005 and 2011. Many of those killed were elderly women.”

Furthermore, here are some additional cliff notes on the problem from the United Nations Human Rights Office,,,

Stop Transporting Exodus 22:18 to Africa, Evangelists; It’s Killing and Torturing Children.

Congo's 'child witches' are exorcised to have the devil beaten out of them | Daily Mail Online

'We are Catholic missionaries so it is our duty to carry out exorcisms,,,.  We have a way to shoo away the sorcery, to chase away the demons.'

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Squeezing a toddler’s eyeballs and shoving his thumb into her tiny nose a Catholic priest purges a child of the devil, one of many exorcisms he carries out every day.

Flicked with holy water, her face smeared with olive oil and poked violently in the stomach, two-and-a-half-year old Angel bursts into tears as she is rid of the evil spirits that lurk within her.

The child wriggles to free herself but her mother holds on firmly, insistent that she endures the exorcism to protect her from the sorcery that many in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) believe controls their lives.

Angel and Grace, an 11-month-old baby exorcised the same day, have been ‘saved’ by the ceremony, the devil banished, and for now they remain safe in their homes.

But tens of thousands of other children in this troubled central African country have been branded ‘child’ witches and flung out onto the streets by their families into a life of destitution, violence and abuse.

MailOnline ventured into the frightening world of the occult in this African heartland, famously described as the ‘heart of darkness’, as part of series examining the challenges facing the United Nations trying to help these children. 

In the capital Kinshasa, at the Gallicane Catholic Church, Father Alexis Katziota Mungala talks almost matter of factly of his work releasing thousands of children from the devil.

Exorcism is a daily ritual he performs in his church.

‘These witches they eat human flesh, they drink human blood,’ Father Alexis told MailOnline.

‘It is the work of the devil. Witchcraft kills the love within the child. It fills them with hate, it makes them eat their father, fight with their brother.

‘Witchcraft is part of our tradition; it is part of Congolese culture.

‘Children can become infected with sorcery but we carry out exorcisms to help children find their families again.’

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‘Once accused of witchcraft, children are stigmatized and discriminated against for life. Children accused of witchcraft may be killed, although more often they are abandoned by their parents and live on the streets.’

Deeply suspicious and steeped in mysticism the existence of child-witchcraft is deep-rooted in Congolese culture.

‘Child witchcraft is part of our tradition,’ Etienne Maleke, who has worked with Kinshasa’s street children for over 20 years, told MailOnline.

‘All of the boys here at the shelter have been accused of being witches.’

But the collapse of the economy in the 1990s following mass lootings by the unpaid army and the following chaos of two devastating wars turned this phenomenon into an epidemic.

Witchcraft was often used to simply rid a household of an unwanted mouth to feed.

Congo's 'child witches' are exorcised to have the devil beaten out of them | Daily Mail Online

The Namibian - Erongo police 'declare war' on witch doctors, churches

WITCH doctors, traditional healers and fake churches must stop their anti-church and witchcraft practices in Erongo or risk a war with the police.

Ileni Shapumba of the Erongo police's community affairs unit said this after the report of a man who killed his cousin and drank his blood in the North over the weekend on the advice of a church and traditional healer became public.
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"These doctors and churches; especially these fake pentecostal churches, must stop their immoral activities for the sake of making money,” he warned.

He said pentecostal churches and traditional healers seem to work together and that more and more of these churches are mushrooming.

“Every second house has been turned into a church, bad mouthing one another, so they can get more customers and make more money. In the past complaints were mostly about noise late at night but now it's becoming a threat to people's well-being and safety,” he warned, urging the public and victims to report any incidents to the police.

The Namibian - Erongo police 'declare war' on witch doctors, churches

'Witchcraft' abuse cases on the rise - BBC News

Child abuse linked to exorcism and witchcraft accusations is on the rise, figures obtained by the BBC suggest. 

The Metropolitan Police said there had been 60 crimes linked to faith in London so far this year. It saw reports double from 23 in 2013 to 46 in 2014.

Half of UK police forces do not record such cases and many local authorities are also unable to provide figures.
The NSPCC said authorities "need to ensure they are able to spot the signs of this particular brand of abuse".
London is unique in having a police team, Project Violet, dedicated to this type of abuse.

Its figures relate to crime reports where officers have flagged a case as involving abuse linked to faith or belief. Many of the cases involve children.
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Debbie Ariyo, founder of Africans Unite Against Child Abuse, said accusations were often made when families experienced problems: "Children are blamed - especially stepchildren."

She added that within churches there was often a financial motivation behind accusations.

"The pastor says there's a witch in this church today; looks around and points to a child.

"That means public humiliation for the family. The next step is exorcism which is not done for free. It's a money-making scam."

'Witchcraft' abuse cases on the rise - BBC News

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

Witchcraft plane crash’ causes commotion in Kasungu | Malawi Nyasa Times – Malawi breaking news in Malawi

Kasungu Police Station and Gundani in Kasungu District, on Monday became centres of attraction on Monday as hundreds of people flocked to the places to see an alleged witchcraft plane.
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The black object, which resembles a small airplane, attracted hundreds of people as the news of its crash spread like wild fire to surrounding areas of Chitete, Chiteyeye and as far as Juma and Kasalika.

Police later went to the scene and took the object to Kasungu Police Station.
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People’s attention then shifted to the police station where they gathered to see the ‘plane’.
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The country’s laws do not recognise the existence of witchcraft and police spokesperson Edwin Kaunda said they took the object away for safety reasons.

Witchcraft plane crash’ causes commotion in Kasungu | Malawi Nyasa Times – Malawi breaking news in Malawi

Five women killed in India by villagers suspecting witchcraft | World news | The Guardian

Five women have been killed in eastern India by villagers who believed they were witches, according to local officials.

The killings took place in a rural community in the state of Jharkhand, where there are frequent reports of fatal attacks on women who locals say have cast curses that are blamed for poor crops, illness or misfortune. The killings often disguise family feuds or land disputes.

In the latest incident villagers with sticks and knives attacked the five women on Friday night in the town of Kanjia, police officials said.

“The women were dragged out of their home while asleep and beaten to death by the villagers suspecting them to be witches … some were even stoned to death,” said Jharkhand police spokesperson SN Pradhan.

Around 50 villagers were arrested, Pradhan said, adding: “The entire village was involved in the crime.”

Police said the attackers packed the victims’ bodies in sacks and discarded them outside the village boundary, according to witnesses.

Five women killed in India by villagers suspecting witchcraft | World news | The Guardian

See also:

India police seek arrest of 'village quack' for fatal witch hunt

Jharkhand Women Accused of Witchcraft Were Killed After Open Court in Village: Police

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries: Another African Church Prosecuting Witch hunt in Contemporary America

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) is one church that is prosecuting a modern day witch hunt in North America. The church’s crusade against witchcraft should, as a matter of urgency, be brought to the attention of the ‘enlightened world’.

MFM is a Nigerian church with branches across North America – in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New York etc. Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya founded it in 1989. The church draws its teachings from the Founder’s numerous books and sermons including his publications on witchcraft.

In one of his books, Overpowering Witchcraft (2010), Pastor Olukoya provides ‘sound biblical teachings’ on his ‘Ministry of Witchcraft’. He claims that manifestations of witchcraft are based in the Scriptures and can be revealed by God.

Olukoya associates witchcraft with prostitution and multiple deaths. He uses fake and fabricated stories and testimonies to illustrate the potency of witchcraft and how mothers-in-law use occult powers to undermine marriages and fuel problems in families. He states that the function of witchcraft is ”to bend what is straight, make it crooked. They change and refashion things to conform to their wicked intentions.” (p.9)

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The entire book drips with alarmist messages and passages which church members and other witch-believing folks could use to legimitize witchcraft accusation and witch persecution. A quick look on the church’s North American web site reveals how Olukoya’s teachings have been translated into “Deliverance Prayers from Witchcraft Prayers Points and Message.” The anti witchcraft prayer points are divided into several parts.

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Critical-thinking Americans need to realize the potentially dangerous nature of Olukoya’s ‘Ministry of Witchcraft’ and take action against this violent brand of Christianity which MFM embodies before it is too late. American skeptics and freethinkers need to provide a counter narrative to MFM’s witch crusade. They should not stand by and allow a slow undoing and erosion of the gains of enlightenment and a re-enactment of the Salem witch trials. Olukoya’s Ministry of Witchcraft has no place in contemporary America and in the contemporary world. Witch hunting by African migrant churches must stop. Witch hunting pastors must be stopped.

Guest post: Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries: Another African Church Prosecuting Witch hunt in Contemporary America

Modern Witch Hunting and Superstitious Murder in India - CSI

Back in August, I posted this article which also discussed "witch-hunting" in India. This CSI piece offers some of the same information but with a differing perspective and focus.

Allegations of witchcraft that result in communal murder have long been a part of rural India’s history. Scholar Ajay Skaria, for instance, explored the torture and murder of women who were accused of being witches in British India. This practice has continued, though with irregularity, into the present. A 2013 Al Jazeera documentary explored the lives of women who were accused of practicing witchcraft. For those who are lucky enough to live after the accusations, they often are forced to move to a new area without resources to start their lives over. Many of the accusations have roots in property disputes, local politics, and disease, which then develop into allegations of witchcraft and then to violence. In recent years, there has been a concentrated effort to help women who fled their villages because of persecution. But according to Al Jazeera, there are only three Indian states that have legislation to address accusations of witchcraft.

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There is no easy solution to stopping these witch hunts. Groups from all walks of life have attempted to stop the violence. A group of self-proclaimed witches planned to protect women by boarding a boat in Mumbai (Bombay) to send “positive energy” on October 31, 2013. However, Indian rationalists and women’s rights activists have pushed for more concrete efforts. Though they have sought stricter laws to punish violence stemming from witchcraft allegations, several groups want to change perceptions toward women and supernatural belief. Indeed, legislation is not a cure for superstition; improving critical thinking is the key.

Changing attitudes includes exposing fraud and teaching critical thinking about superstition, which sometimes runs counter to long-held indigenous beliefs. Outside intervention in rural communities is frowned upon, and rationalists face difficultly in winning support from people with heavily ingrained beliefs. The Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) has been fighting for voting rights, education, and ending bonded labor throughout India. Recently, it has taken an interest in stopping witch hunts through literacy programs in which women directly voiced their complaints to judges and state officials in attendance. The Indian Rationalist Association, which has more than 100,000 members, engages in rural outreach that teaches critical thinking and exposes superstition. While it is difficult or impossible to rid the world of magical thinking and superstition, there are many underfunded groups trying to end modern witch hunts that continue to plague remote parts of India.

Modern Witch Hunting and Superstitious Murder in India - CSI

allAfrica.com: Ghana: Govt Struggles to Reintegrate 'Witches'

Wumbie is one of five women held captive there. She was accused of having caused the death of a woman who was giving birth.

People had called her to assist the woman, 70-year-old Wumbie recounted, sitting in her room, cracking groundnuts with her bare hands. "When I got there, she was struggling ... so I assisted her until the baby came out dead," she told DW's Maxwell Suuk. Everybody had seen it, she said. "So I went home, and they called me later and told me that the woman wasn't feeling well," Wumbie continued. "When they were taking her to hospital, she died."

Wumbie was accused of having had a hand in the woman's death - an accusation she completely denied. Still, she was eventually banished.

She had been a traditional birth attendant in her community and had successfully delivered babies for the past 20 years, she told DW.

She said she had previously helped the woman who passed away deliver six children consecutively without any complications. She cannot understand what made people think she would want to kill anyone.

Back in Yong, Wumbie's village, which is located in the vicinity of Tamale, Wumbie's children have been calling for their mother to be brought home. Azara Sulemana, one of her seven children, is worried. "There's no one preparing her food," she says. "How to even wash her clothes is a problem, because she is too old."

Whenever Azara came home from visiting her mother at the camp, she was so troubled that she would have difficulty sleeping. She thinks their community is not being fair to her mother.

"They threatened to stone her if she comes back," Azara told DW.

allAfrica.com: Ghana: Govt Struggles to Reintegrate 'Witches'

SA cops on the trail of zombies and witches

This is another article that appears to follow a re-current theme of late and may be likened or reminiscent of the "satanic panic" experienced here in the US.  As with other articles there seems to be a tendency to lump the occult with Paganism and Witchcraft calling it satanism and then throw in local religious beliefs and mythologies.  I think it is troublesome that in the 21st century we are still fighting against supernatural beliefs whether it be as a victim or perpetrator.
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Some call them the Ghost Busters. Other call them the X-Files. They’ve even been dubbed the Vampire Cops.

But for the Harmful Occult Related Crimes unit, their cases are every bit as real - and the victims every bit as violated - as any other.

Colonel Dr Attie Lamprecht’s job is to see beyond the tokoloshes, zombies, curses, muti and witchcraft to gather evidence that will stand up in court.

It’s also his job to know about new trends such as “more and more young people drinking each other’s blood”.

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“Satanism is not a crime,” he emphasised. It’s only if religious or spiritual beliefs result in a legally defined crime that his officers will make an arrest.

But every supernatural report has to be taken seriously.

“In certain parts of South Africa, if a person is identified as a witch… they will be killed, and sometimes their family too. In the northern parts of the country women seek shelter in police stations because they have been pointed out as a witch.”

SA cops on the trail of zombies and witches

Fighting for the Human Rights of Alleged Witches. | Feature Article 2014-07-31

You may have heard that there are plans by the government of Ghana to close down the witch camps. These camps exist in the Northern region of the country. The move to shut down the camps is a reaction by the government of Ghana to reports of the deplorable situation, exploitation and human rights abuses in the these camps. The government is reportedly embarrassed by these reports and now wants to disband these places of refuge. Recently, the United Stated embassy in Ghana announced that it was funding a research program aimed at closing down these camps.

Now let us think about this. What is actually embarrassing in this case? Is it the belief in witchcraft or these refuge centers? What's the real problem here-is it the witch camps or witch beliefs? What the government of Ghana should be preoccupied with- is it disbanding the witch camps or educating and enlightening the people, helping reorient their minds so that they abandon these superstitious beliefs in magic and sorcery?

Actually the situation in these camps is difficult and many of the alleged witches are suffering terribly.The alleged witches live in huts. They have no access to clothing, water or food. Some of them have their family members visit them occasionally to bring them money and food. Others depend on charity and support from NGOs. Others have resorted to begging for survival. But is that a reason why they should be denied a safe space to be? Is that why they should be forced to go back home where they are likely to be murdered by their accusers?

Fighting for the Human Rights of Alleged Witches. | Feature Article 2014-07-31

Thousands of women, accused of sorcery, tortured and executed in Indian witch hunts - The Washington Post

If it began like the others, the first sign that Saraswati Devi would be murdered was an accusation delivered to a shaman. Perhaps she had offended someone. Perhaps someone had fallen sick and had wondered why. Perhaps a community well had suddenly dried and someone needed blaming. Perhaps they chose her because Devi was lower caste, because she was a woman, and because they’d probably get away with it.

The killers came for her on Saturday. Two of her sons tried to save her, but couldn’t and were beaten. Their punishment wouldn’t match Devi’s. Before the 14 villagers inflicted injuries so severe they would claim her life, they “forced her to consume human excreta,” police told the Hindustan Times.

Though shocking by nearly any standard, the murder was not unique. It was not even uncommon in pockets of rural India.

In places where superstition and vigilantism overlap and small rumors can turn deadly, nearly 2,100 people accused of witchcraft have been killed between 2000 and 2012, according to crime records gathered by the Indian newspaper Mint. Others placed the number at 2,500; others higher still. “Like the proverbial tip of a very deep iceberg, available data hides much of the reality of a problem that is deeply ingrained in society,” according to New Delhi-based Partners for Law in Development. “It is only the most gruesome cases that are reported — most cases of witch-hunting go unreported and unrecorded.”

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The forces driving the killings, which occur predominantly in Indian states with large tribal populations, are as much cultural as they are economic and caste-based, experts said. While the easiest explanation is that angered mobs confuse a sudden illness or crop failure with witchcraft and exact their revenge, it’s rarely that simple. Much more often, it isn’t superstition but gender and class discrimination. Those accused of sorcery often come from similar backgrounds: female, poor and of a low caste.

“Witch-hunting is essentially a legacy of violence against women in our society,” wrote Rakesh Singh of the Indian Social Institute. “For almost invariably, it is [low caste] women, who are branded as witches. By punishing those who are seen as vile and wild, oppressors perhaps want to send a not-so-subtle message to women: docility and domesticity get rewarded; anything else gets punished.”

The veil of superstition, others said, only hides the true motive behind the killings. “Superstition is only an excuse,” Pooja Singhal Purwar, a social welfare official, told The Washington Post’s Rama Lakshmi in 2005. “Often a woman is branded a witch so that you can throw her out of the village and grab her land, or to settle scores, family rivalry, or because powerful men want to punish her for spurning their sexual advances. Sometimes, it is used to punish women who question social norms.”

Thousands of women, accused of sorcery, tortured and executed in Indian witch hunts - The Washington Post


See also: 




"In places where superstition and vigilantism overlap and small rumors can turn deadly, nearly 2,100 people accused of witchcraft have been killed between 2000 and 2012, according to crime records gathered by the Indian newspaper Mint. Others placed the number at 2,500; others higher still. “Like the proverbial tip of a very deep iceberg, available data hides much of the reality of a problem that is deeply ingrained in society,” according to New Delhi-based Partners for Law in Development. “It is only the most gruesome cases that are reported — most cases of witch-hunting go unreported and unrecorded.”




From 2000 to 2012, experts say as many as 2,500 people — many of them women — in India have been accused of “witchcraft,” and have been tortured and killed. Usually these “witches” are killed during mob violence, pretty much for no other reason than superstition being used to justify violence against women.

Religious News Verses: Satanists and Witches | God Discussion

Not quite sure what to think of this. I in no way support WBC but the actions of the the Satanic Temple IMHO border on sacrilegious and just down right stupid and in bad taste; legal or not. But another side of me is wondering, is this being blown out of proportion by ALL involved?? A publicity stunt??

Religious News Verses: Satanists and Witches | God Discussion