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Kenya mob burns 11 "witches" to death

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Published on Thursday, 22 May 2008 17:00

A mob tied up at least 11 people accused of witchcraft and burnt them to death in a remote village in western Kenya, police said Wednesday. Police were on patrol in the village of Nyakoe to prevent revenge attacks after eight women and three men, 10 of them aged between 70 and 90, were lynched and burnt to death on Tuesday, spokesman Charles Owino said.

"Their houses were torched. Eight women and three men suspected of being witches died," Kenya's deputy police spokesman Charles Owino said.
Kisii district residents confirmed the killings, saying an enraged crowd had gone house-to-house on Tuesday night, using a list of supposed witches in the region.

About 30 houses were torched.

Police chief Kibuchi said the villagers had recounted holding a meeting in Nyakeo earlier on Tuesday to try and dissuade those who wanted to go ahead with the killing. Five of the victims had supposedly "confessed" at this meeting to practicing witchcraft and had begged for mercy, he said.

Traditional African beliefs, Christianity and Islam co-exist peacefully in Kenya. But there is widespread suspicion of sorcery, particularly in west Kenya, which has a long tradition of witch doctors and faith healers. In 1993, eight elderly people from Kisii were also accused of witchcraft and burned to death in their huts by a mob.

Deputy police spokesman Charles Owino says the mob hunted down the 8 women and 3 men in two villages in the western Kenya district of Kisii Central. Owino says most of the victims were between 70 years old and 90 years old. Only one of the victims was 40 years old. Senior administrator Njoroge Ndirangu says the mob used a list to hunt down people they said are suspected witches and wizards.
He added: "These people identified who is to be killed by accusing their victims of bewitching their sons and daughters." Ndirangu is the commissioner in charge of Kisii Central district.