Zambézia police worried about rising wave of ‘witch killings’ – Mozambique

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Zambézia police worried about rising wave of ‘witch killings’ – Mozambique

1:10 CAT | 19 Apr 2018

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In the last three months alone, four women have been killed in the Mozambican province of Zambezia for allegedly practising witchcraft.

Police say they are doing everything they can to end the killings and report that youngsters are mainly responsible, accusing their elders of bewitching them so that they do not to progress in their careers, and saying that they are driving the population off Inhassunge Island to other areas.

Image result for PolÃcia da ZambÃ©zia preocupada com "caÃ§a Ã s feiticeiras"

“This year alone we had four cases, with a major incidence in Inhassunge district, where the victims, elders aged between 50 and 70 years of age, were accused of practising witchcraft,” Zambézia police spokesman Miguel Caetano reports. “This really worries the authorities.”

The phenomenon is not new in the region. There have been multiple cases in the past of victims, always women, being put to death by machete.

How can you stop a wave of murders?

Community leader Elias Ovuza is also worried. “I’m a senior citizen and I’m afraid my children will tell me later that I’m a witch doctor,” he says. “In order to reduce this type of crime, we must sit down with the young people and advise them.”

Bairro Mussama — *Mussama neighbourhood, on the island of Inhanssunge, uninhabited because of the disappearance of the coconut palm, the main source of income for families*

But the disappearance of the population has nothing to do with spells, local residents told DW Africa. According to Abílio Borge, resident in Inhassunge, poor standards of living are behind the exodus.

“The coconut tree, which was one of the main sources of income, is disappearing,” Borge says. Resident Angelina Jose agrees: “The living there was selling coconut. People survived because of that, now there is nothing.”

Police say they are doing everything they can to stop the murders. Police spokesman Miguel Caetano says working with the local community is critical. “This is a job that the police, in coordination with community structures, are initiating in order to reverse the scenario,” he concludes.

Source: Deutsche Welle