witch doctors

6 Stories

Family of 5 Found Dead on Cliff; Witch Doctor Blamed

A baby somehow survived the incident in Fiji

(Newser) - A family of five found dead on a cliff in Fiji. A one-year-old found alive, crawling nearby, having survived 36 hours in the wilderness. And an alleged witch doctor charged in the deaths. Police say Muhammad Raheesh Isoof, 62, lived next to Nirmal Kumar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54,...

The Grisly 'Charms' That Spurred a Witch Doctor Ban

Tanzania's albinos are attacked for their body parts for black-magic potions

(Newser) - Being kidnapped and killed for body parts sounds like something out of a horror movie, but for Tanzania's albino population, it's a horror that's all too real. The country has issued a ban on witch doctors to try to stem such murders, which officials say are carried...

Ritual Sacrifice of Children on Rise in Uganda

Mutilated bodies likely victims of ceremonial murder

(Newser) - Ugandan police don't know who killed Caroline Aya, but they think they know why she was killed. The eight-year-old was found with her tongue cut out, a likely sign that she had been used in a ritual killing designed to bring wealth or happiness. The practice of human sacrifice is...

Ugandan Child Murders Linked to Witch Doctors

US-backed task force struggles to quell brutal surge

(Newser) - Ritual murders and kidnappings continue to haunt Uganda despite police efforts to battle the horrors, the Guardian reports. Often linked to organ trafficking and witch doctors, some 300 cases were reported last year, and only 18 taken to court. A US-backed task force started this year has failed to stem...

'Witch' Murders Rattle New Guinea

(Newser) - An increasing number of women are being tortured and murdered in a series of witch hunts in Papua New Guinea, reports the Independent. The problem is so severe that the government has launched a new commission to address it. Women are often blamed for any untimely death in a tribe....

Tanzanians Asked to Secretly Finger Albino-Murderers

(Newser) - The government of Tanzania is turning to a secret “referendum” to ferret out those behind a surge in killings that have left 45 albinos dead in the past 15 months, the BBC reports. Officials aim to collect, in writing, names of suspects. “When you invite people to accuse...

6 Stories