Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Witch Hunt

Child Sorcery in DR Congo
"This is a country where is no social cohesion any longer, there is no sense of community, no sense of family," she says.

"So, whenever anything happens at family or community level it is very easy for them to blame someone who is powerless and seems to have no rights."

Ms Dentice went on tell me how serious sorcery allegations can be for the children concerned.

"A lot of these children are beaten up or burnt. Unfortunately it is very common," she says.

"I have just received this morning a report about a girl of 12-years-old who has been burnt because she was accused of witchcraft."
Hundreds of children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been accused of sorcery. Some are thrown out of their homes, some tortured or abused, while others die.

Fortunately making witchcraft accusations against children is now illegal there, but there is great difficulty getting people to change. Various agencies are trying to educate the populace that the accusations are untrue and harmful. But some authorities and even priests go along with them, although the government and the archbishop of the area oppose child witchcraft allegations.

No comments: