'Witches' burnt to death in Kenya

'Witches' burnt to death in Kenya

news.bbc.co.uk

Eleven elderly people accused of being witches have been burned to death by a mob in the west of Kenya, police say.

A security operation has been launched to hunt down villagers suspected of killing them in Kisii District.

The BBC's Muliro Telewa in the region says the gang had a list of the victims and picked them out individually.

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This apparently is not being done by the state. This is still very horrible that there is modern day witch burning happening. All of the people killed were elderly. To me that makes it even worse. This group of thugs drug a 96 year old person out of there house to burn them to death. I hope the government is taking this seriously and actively looking for the killers.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I saw this article and was just about to post it too!

My favorite line was from the "local official", so glad to hear someone there has common sense! Burning witches is one thing, but for Gods sake it takes more than just mild suspicion!

Residents have been ambivalent about condemning the attacks because belief in witchcraft is widespread in the area, he says.

But local official Mwangi Ngunyi spoke out against the murders.

"People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone," he told AFP news agency.

Pretty amazing the stuff that goes on in Africa. Then again sometimes on these boards people start saying their relatives or whatever are posessed and it makes me wonder just how far they would go too.

Horror of Kenya's 'witch' lynchings

Page last updated at 07:17 GMT, Friday, 26 June 2009

I can't see clearly what is going on, but heavy smoke is rising from the ground and a horrible stench fills the air. More people are streaming up the hill, some of them with firewood and maize stalks. Suddenly an old woman breaks from the crowd, screaming for mercy. Three or four people go after her, beat her and drag her back, pushing her onto - what I can now see - is a raging fire. Burned alive I was witnessing a horrific practice which appears to be on the increase in Kenya - the lynching of people accused of being witches. I personally saw the burning alive of five elderly men and women in Itii village.

news.bbc.co.uk...

I know this is an old thread but this just came out today and I thought an update was in order. The article describes how the journalist pleaded with the authorities to do something. They did not want to be bothered.