Perilous
Times, Witchcraft and The Occult
Witchcraft is growing threat to children in Britain, warn
police
Children in Britain are being abused and murdered in increasing
numbers because the belief in witchcraft is rife in some African
communities, police said.
By Nick Britten and Victoria Ward
10:04PM GMT 01 Mar 2012
The Telegraph UK
The warning was issued as a couple from the Democratic Republic of
Congo were found guilty of murdering the woman’s 15-year-old
brother during an “exorcism ceremony”.
The Metropolitan Police yesterday said it had investigated 83
“faith-based” child abuse cases involving witchcraft in the past
10 years but believed it was still an “under-reported, hidden
crime”.
Children’s charities and campaigners urged communities to report
abuse and said social workers must be firmer in confronting abuse
in immigrant groups.
Kristy Bamu, 15, was relentlessly tortured and eventually drowned
in a bath on Christmas Day 2010 by his sister, Magalie, and her
partner, Eric Bikubi. The killers are facing life sentences.
They believed he had cast spells on another child and punished him
with increasing viciousness. The teenager “begged to die” because
he was in such pain after three days of being attacked with
knives, sticks, metal bars and a hammer and chisel, suffering 130
separate injuries.
Among the cases that have come to light are four murders,
including that of Victoria Climbié in 2000, the case that first
raised awareness of the problem in Britain.
Detectives warned that while they were investigating around eight
cases a year, they believed many more incidents went unreported.
Det Supt Terry Sharpe, the Metropolitan Police’s lead on Project
Violet, a team set up to tackle religious-based child abuse, said:
“The intelligence from the community is that it’s far more
prevalent than the reports we are getting.”
The NSPCC said: “We must not be afraid to challenge these
communities to out the wrongdoers within them. Sadly, this deeply
disturbing case is not a one-off incident. “
The Victoria Climbié Trust, which was set up after the death of
the eight year-old, said that, while the number of children
affected was relatively low, the impact was significant. “The
reality is that no one really knows the full extent across the
many communities for whom traditional belief systems are the
norm,” said director Mor Dioum.
The charity Trust for London said some officials may be unsure how
to deal with abuse cases linked to witchcraft and spirit
possession.
“Those working with children need to remember that no faith or
culture promotes cruelty to children and not be afraid to
intervene if someone is wrongly using belief as an excuse to harm
children.”
Many cases involve immigrants from African countries such as the
DRC, where witchcraft is widely practised, and are nurtured by an
increasing number of African churches.
Kristy had come to London with his two brothers and two sisters
from Paris to stay with their sister and her boyfriend for
Christmas, but within hours Bikubi, 28, had accused them of
bringing kindoki – a form of witchcraft – into his home.
Two sisters, aged 20 and 11, were beaten but escaped further
attacks after “confessing” to being witches.
Kristy was singled out because, in sheer terror, he wet himself.
He was struck in the mouth with a hammer, had bottles and tiles
smashed over his head and his ear twisted with pliers.
In what prosecutors called “a staggering act of depravity and
cruelty”, the siblings, who included a 13-year-old boy and an
autistic brother aged 22, were made to join in the torture.
At one point, Bikubi, 28, a football coach from Newham, east
London, told the youngsters to jump out of the window to see if
they could fly.
One of the victims, Kelly Bamu, said: “They started talking about
kindoki, witchcraft and this and that. It was as if they were
obsessed by witchcraft.”
The Old Bailey heard that emergency services were greeted with a
horrific scene when they were called to the eight-floor flat
following Kristy’s death. In the blood-spattered flat, police
found his brothers and sisters “hysterical, terrified and soaking
wet,” the court heard.
Bikubi and Bamu, 29, who had denied murder, will be sentenced on
Monday.