Albino girl, 11, killed and beheaded in Swaziland ’for witchcraft’

By Atheist |

Sunday, August 22, 2010

0 comments

Albino girl, 11, killed and beheaded in Swaziland ’for witchcraft’


An 11-year-old albino girl from Swaziland was shot dead in front of her friends and then beheaded in what police believe was a ritual murder.

Police believe children are targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions Photo: AFP/GETTY The child had been washing clothes and bathing at a river with friends and was returning home when she was grabbed by a man wearing a balaclava.



As her friends looked on, the man shot her in the back before dragging her away. Her headless body was found upriver a short time later.

The murder is the latest in a series of albino killings in Sub-Saharan Africa, where sufferers of the rare skin pigmentation condition are concentrated.




Earlier this year, another 11-year-old albino child was killed close to the same spot in Swaziland and her hand was removed.

Police believe both children may have been targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos - who lack pigment in their eyes, hair and skin - can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions.

Their value for black magic practitioners sees them often fall prey to human traffickers, one of whom was jailed for 17 years in Tanzania this week for abducting and attempting to sell a live albino man.

The girl murdered in Swaziland was named locally as Banele Nxumalo. A man identified as her father, Luke Nxumalo, told The Times of Swaziland that his late uncle had also been an albino.

“What happened to my child is very painful. I wonder why albinos are targeted because they are just humans like us and a gift from God,” he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/swaziland/7956458/Albino-girl-11-killed-and-beheaded-in-Swaziland-for-witchcraft.html

Parents sacrifice 4-yr-old girl to become rich

By Atheist |

Friday, August 20, 2010

0 comments

Exorcism rituals

Parents sacrifice 4-yr-old girl to become rich

Sanjay Pandey, Lucknow, Aug 18, DHNS:

Lust for wealth drove a poverty- stricken couple to sacrifice their own four-year-old daughter at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s backward Sitapur district, about 90 km from here.

The couple, identified as Srikrishna and Ramdevi, were told by a “tantrik” (exorcist)that they would become rich if they sacrificed their daughter, according to police sources here.

Acting on the advice of a “tantrik”, a “havana kund”(a pit in which the fire is lit and yajna is performed), was prepared in the courtyard of the couple for the rituals late on Monday night.

The parents then put their daughter Kanni into the pit amid chanting of “mantra” and lit the fire. The girl, who was also mercillessely beaten, was half buried in the pit.

The parents had stuffed a piece of cloth in the mouth of the little girl so that her cries could not be heard by any one in the village, sources said.

The badly burnt body of the girl was later buried on the same spot by digging a deep pit, sources said. The grandmother of the girl was also present during the rituals, sources said.

The ghastly incident came to light on Tuesday when neighbours found vermillion, flowers, incense sticks and other items used in the rituals and suspected that some “exorcism rituals” might have been performed there.

As the crowds of villagers swelled before Srikrishna’s house, the couple, sensing trouble, and others fled from there through the back door.

The villagers informed the police, which dug the area and brought out the badly burnt body of Kanni. “The body had injury marks on the head and neck, which shows that she must have been beaten for offering resistance,” according to the police.

A case had been registered by the police and a massive manhunt had been launched to nab the culprits, who have been absconding.

Barely a couple of days back a nine- year-old girl was buried alive by her own uncle in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district to please the goddess so that he could become rich.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/89585/parents-sacrifice-4-yr-old.html

Minor girl buried alive (sacrificed) by her uncle in Uttar Pradesh

By Atheist | 0 comments

Stupidness of these people in the name of sacrifices to god is atrocious.

Updated on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 21:31

Lucknow: In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old girl was today buried alive in Uttar Pradesh by her uncle who believed that sacrificing the minor would solve all his problems, a senior police officer said here.

Munau was buried alive by her uncle Shiv Kumar Yadav in Bangrahan village in Tarabganj area of Gondaa district this morning, Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Brij Lal told reporters.

Shiv Kumar believed that sacrificing a minor girl will solve all his problems and miseries, he said.
Shiv Kumar has been arrested and the body has been sent for post mortem, the ADG said.
PTI

http://www.zeenews.com/news647362.html