-
Mutilated body of man
found on hill new
Residents of Freedom Park yesterday woke
up to a gruesome discovery of a man's
mutilated body. Gis eyes were gouged out and
a nose and left ear missing.
The man, Nkosinathi Mokonyana, 39, from
Green Village, was found dumped on a hill a
few metres from his girlfriend's house south
of Johannesburg.
(....)
January 12, 2012
Couple killed over witchcraft claim. Accused
of killing their granddaughter and burying
her in the yard new
January 12, 2012 "Overview"
2011: An
11-year-old-boy was abducted and mutilated
in Soweto on Friday, said Gauteng Police new
December 23, 2011
Muti killer gets life new
November 29, 2011
'I saw them cut her' new
July 22, 2011
Sister stabbed for body parts new
July 4, 2011 'Where's
the trust money?', muthi survivor asks new
June 23, 2011 44
protesters appear in court over muthi
protest new
June 22, 2011
No bail in child muthi case new
May 13, 2011 Cash
for organs is no joke new
February 25, 2011
Mother kills son for muti - Sells his ear
new
July 1, 2010
Previously reported cases 2011 and earlier:
Radio report:
Murder inquiry
highlights trade in body parts
The following is from a radio report by
Ginnie Stein. It contains shocking data:
more than 10 ritual murders in the vilage of
Tlokweng only and: according to the South
African police in 2001 almost 2,500 people
were caught in possession of body parts.
Since then no official figures have been
released.
ELEANOR HALL: In South Africa, the
suspected ritual murder of a young man is
driving concerns about the trade in human
body parts in the country. The murder
sparked angry protests and one demonstrator
was killed by police, as Africa
correspondent Ginny Stein reports.
(....)
GINNY STEIN: In Tlokweng, a remote village
in South Africa's far north, people are
crying out for answers. They want to know
who killed 24-year Thabiso Moloi and why the
police have failed to investigate his murder.
They fear a serial killer - one who murders
to cultivate human body parts has struck
again.
(....)
GINNY STEIN: Police are reluctant to
investigate "muti" murders, as the killing
of people for their body parts is known. But
in Tlokweng the community is no longer
prepared to wait, for Thabiso Moloi is not
the first suspected victim.
MOTSISI MOGAPI: I think this guy is almost
the 13th guy or 14th guy. So…
GINNY STEIN: In this village?
MOTSISI MOGAPI: In this village. So we are
tired.
(....)
GINNY STEIN: While speaking out about ritual
murder in South Africa is uncommon, the
reaction of authorities is predictable.
There is reluctance at all levels to address
the issue.
MOTSISI MOGAPI: At one stage the premier of
this province said to me, "shut up".
GINNY STEIN: Police don't keep statistics of
how many people die in ritual murders but in
2001 they did release a very revealing
figure. In that year almost 2,500 people
were caught in possession of body parts.
(....)
This is Ginny Stein reporting from
Johannesburg for The World Today
June 6, 2011
Protest over ritual killings subsides in
Tlokweng
Tlokweng returned to normal (....) after
violent protests over ritual killings left
two dead and one injured. (....) Two people
were shot and killed and another injured
during the protest sparked by the alleged
ritual killing of Thabiso Moloi.
Residents went on the rampage on Sunday
after Moloi's funeral. His decomposing body
was found in the bush and Tlokweng residents
suspected that he was killed for muti.
(....)
A car and house belonging to the owner of
the tavern at which Moloi was last seen were
torched and the tavern owner was intimidated.
Government officials told residents that an
independent team would be set up to probe
ritual murders in Tlokweng over the past
four years.
(....)
June 1, 2011
Protesters shot dead in Tlokweng
North West premier Thandi Modise had to step
in to calm a potentially explosive protest
march in Tlokweng outside Swartruggens
yesterday following the shooting to death of
two protesters - allegedly by the police
(....)
The protests started on Saturday following
the discovery of the body of Thabiso Moloi,
who went missing on April 15. The Moloi
family said the police had failed to find
him after they reported him missing and he
was only found by residents a month later.
(....)
After the discovery, thousands of local
residents embarked on a protest, demanding
the expulsion of the provincial police
commissioner.
(....)
June 1, 2011
-
Ritual killing:
shocking details emerge
Pretoria - A man accused of killing a Soshanguve schoolgirl told
a magistrate the child was still alive when her
womb was ripped from her body during a ritual
killing. This emerged in the High Court in
Pretoria on Thursday.
Brian Mangwale earlier
told another magistrate one of his friends
strangled the child, and she was already dead
when he cut out her womb and removed her breast,
which he sold to a sangoma for R3000. Family
members wept as details of the last hours of
10-year-old Masego Kgomo's life emerged.
He denied ever pointing
out Masego's decomposed body in the veld behind
the Soshanguve train station eight days after
she disappeared on December 31, 2009.
(...)
May 12, 2011
- Four ritual murder suspects to appear in court
The four Zimbabweans who were at the weekend arrested in
connection with the murder of a fellow countryman whose eyes and
private parts they then removed in a suspected ritual murder in
South Africa yesterday appeared in court.
Innocent Muvembi (26), Johannes Chikukuta (31), Ngonidzahse Mapfumo
(26) and Blessing Hove (17) were not asked to plead by a Musina
magistrate.
(....)
They are accused of killing Munyaradzi Muthetwa and then hanging his
body from a tree in Musina to feign suicide. (....)
After the murder they allegedly removed his eyes and private parts.
(....)
March 15, 2011
- Killings for body parts return to haunt Limpopo province
(...)
The last wave of this problem in Limpopo was in 2006. Now the lull
has ended, as cases of murder for body parts are being reported here
and other regions of the country.
(....)
Earlier this year, a decomposing body of a woman who had been
missing for two days was found in a mealie field at Mavambe near
Malamulele in Mopani district.
Col Motlafela Mojapelo said the murder is a sequel to an incident
where Grace Mphephu, 45, went missing after she took her child to a
nearby clinic for medical treatment on January 21.
He said the police and members of the community launched an
intensive search for the missing woman until her body was found two
days later in a mealie field close to Mavambe Village.
(....)
Last month the mutilated body of a 74-year-old woman, Tsatsawane
Macheke, was discovered in her house at Mahonisi Village with some
body parts missing.
(....)
Meanwhile, according to 2006 report of the Task Team on “ritual”
murders in Limpopo, the resurgence of the murders in Limpopo has had
a devastating effect on families and communities. Vhembe is one of
the hardest-hit regions.
The legislature hearings on the body parts murder in the Mutale area
confirmed the view that many people are continuing to live in fear.
Known ritual murder trials from the area include the highly
publicised case of State v Shumani Dzebu, Mukondeleli Phosha and
others, who were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of
Maanda Sendedza and attempted murder of Nyelisani Sidimela.
(....)
Meanwhile, Sapa reports that four people were expected to appear in
the Musina Magistrate’s Court yesterday for allegedly killing a man,
removing his body parts and then making the crime look like a
suicide.
Munyaradzi Muthethwa, a Zimbabwean citizen, was found hanging from a
tree near Mathombo Lodge on Friday, Lt-Col Ronel Otto said.
Both his eyeballs and genitals had been cut out. Four Zimbabwean men
aged between 17 and 31 have been arrested.
March 15, 2011
- Muthi killing outrage
The rising number of suspected muthi killing victims is tearing the
community of Malamulele in Limpopo apart.
(....)
This comes after the discovery of the body of a 33-year-old local
man at Mavambe in Malamulele.
The body was found after the funeral on Saturday of a suspected
muthi killing victim, Tsatsawani Maceke, 75.
(....)
The dead man was identified as Stanley Hlungwani, a security guard
who worked in Tzaneen. His father, Alfred Hlungwani, said (...) "We
were shocked when people said there was a body in the trench next to
the main road to Thohoyandou. When we went there we found it was my
son," he said sobbing.
He said this enraged the youths, who linked his son's death to the
recent ritual murder of Grace Baloyi, 47, at Mavambe, and that of
Maceke.
(...)
The youth were also demanding the arrest of a Thulamela municipality
official at Dovheni Village whom they linked to the death of Baloyi.
(...)
February 14, 2011
- Police blitz nets 22 suspects
The suspects were arrested for crimes ranging from ATM bombings,
cash-in-transit heists, car hijackings, robbery - and a muthi murder
(....)
Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Amon Mashigo (said)
"We also arrested five suspects in connection with the ritual
killing of a woman in Malamulele. We recovered mutilated body parts."
February 10, 2011
- Body parts found in plastic bag dragged by dog
Body parts suspected to be those of an elderly woman allegedly
killed for muthi purposes were found being dragged in a plastic bag
by a dog near a school yesterday.
The dog dragged the plastic bag near Mahonisi Primary School in
Malamulele, Limpopo, in the morning.
"We saw the dog struggling to pull this plastic bag outside the
school. We went outside the school to see what was in the bag. (...)
"We found human breasts and lips in the bag. We could not believe
our eyes," an eyewitness said.
(...)
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed
that police found lips and breasts in the plastic bag.
(....)
The incident took place just days after angry residents of Mahosini
and surrounding villages marched to the local police station
demanding that the Malamulele magistrate's court should not grant
bail to five "muthi murder" suspects.
(....)
The five are accused of killing 74-year old granny Tsetswawani Maria
Maceke, whose body parts were allegedly removed for muthi purposes.
Maceke's corpse was found by her granddaughter covered in blood last
Saturday morning in her RDP house at Mahonisi village near
Malamulele. Her genitals, breasts, lips and eyes had been removed.
February 10, 2011
- Mob sets home of freed 'muthi' man on fire
Angry members of the community in Giyani took the law into their own
hands by setting alight a house belonging to a man suspected of
killing people for muthi purposes.
The incident happened yesterday after the suspect's case was
withdrawn by the Giyani magistrate's court for lack of evidence.
Tangiseni Mdau, 57, and his co-accused Lodrick Vha-vhali, 23, were
arrested in December 2009 for allegedly killing Thokozile
Maswanganyi.
They were arrested on allegations that they were involved in the
killing of people for muthi.
Mdau was acquitted after awaiting trial for about year.
On hearing the news of the acquittal, residents of Nkurhi and
Malonga set Mdau's house alight.
(...)
One of the victims, Muitshekwa Mutshavha-tshidi, said she had tried
to call the police on several occasions to come to their rescue but
to no avail. "I have since lost confidence in the police," she said.
February 8, 2011
- Son held for muthi murder of mother
A son is among those arrested after his mother was ritually murdered
at Mahonisi village outside Malamulele in Limpopo.
Tsatsawani Maria Maceke, 74, was discovered by her granddaughter in
a pool of blood yesterday morning at her RDP house. Her private
parts were removed, as well as her breasts, lips and eyes.
This is the second muthi murder in the area in two weeks.
(...)
Provincial police spokesman Colonel Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed
that two people aged 35 and 36 had been arrested. He appealed to the
community for information.
(...)
Meanwhile, the community of Mavambe last week gave Nathi Mthethwa,
the Police Minister, 14 days to compel the police to arrest a prime
suspect in the muthi murders that occurred in the area since 2008.
Angry residents from villages in Mavambe and Dovheni marched to the
Malamulele police station demanding Mthethwa's intervention.
(...)
February 7, 2011
- 2nd inyanga up for muthi killing
A second Inyanga has been arrested in connection with the murder and
mutilation of a 4-year-old girl in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, two years
ago.
Gauteng top cop Happy Vilankulu tracked down the inyanga to his home
in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.
"We found him busy throwing bones and telling people who had come to
consult him about their future and other things. We arrested him,"
said Vilankulu.
He said police seized a bottle allegedly containing human blood.
"He was pointed out by the person he allegedly gave muthi. We have
no doubt that we have got the right person because he was pointed
out by the person he was allegedly involved with in the gruesome
murder," he said.
Vilankulu, who spoke to Sowetan while driving back from
KwaZulu-Natal, said he was happy that he managed to trace the
inyanga though he had fled the town in which he allegedly committed
the crime.
(....)
Last week, Vilankulu arrested another inyanga at a hideout in
Mthatha, in Eastern Cape.
The arrest came after a couple - a bishop of the Eden Church and his
wife - were arrested in Katlehong on January 18.
Monde Tokwe, 48, and Nolufefe Magasane, 50, of Mandela informal
settlement appeared in the Alberton magistrate's court last Thursday.
The four allegedly killed the girl and mutilated her body before it
was dumped in an open veld.
Police say the bishop consulted inyangas in a bid to boost the
numbers at his church after membership dwindled.
The inyangas allegedly told him to bring human body parts to help
him bring back the members.
(...)
February 2, 2011
- 10,000 in protest against 'ritual killing'
Traffic came to a standstill in Malamulele, Limpopo, (....) when
more than 10,000 people from six rural communities under Chief
Patrick Mavambe marched to the Malamulele police station.
They were protesting against the police's failure to arrest a prime
suspect in a case involving a 46-year-old woman, Grace Chauke, who
was allegedly killed for ritual purposes. Incidents of this nature
are common in both Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
The mother of six was killed between Mavambe and Dovheni villages on
January 21. (....) Her body was buried at Mavambe cemetery on
Saturday, but it was minus vital organs such as private parts, an
eye and lips, which had been removed.
(....)
A memorandum was sent to Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, in
which he was aked to transfer the case from Malamule to the national
specialised crime unit.
(...)
January 31, 2011
- Inyanga held over girl's slaying
Gauteng police have arrested an inyanga who eluded them for the past
two years over the murder and mutilation of a 4-year-old girl in
Katlehong, Ekurhuleni.
A couple - a bishop of the Eden Church and his wife - were arrested
last Tuesday.
Monde Tokwe, 48, and Nolufefe Magasame, 50, (....) appeared in the
Alberton's magistrate's court in Thursday.
The inyanga was arrested in his hideout in Mthatha in Eastern Cape.
"Police have discovered that the bishop and his wife consulted the
inyanga and he suggested they needed to use muthi to get things
rights at their church.", a source said.
Top cop Happy Vilankulu tracked down the inyanga and brought him
back to Johannesburg last week.
"He has told the police where the girl was killed and how they
killed her. Police are happy that all three suspects involved in
this gruesome murder have been arrested and they all have confessed
that they took part," the source said.
The three allegedly killed the girl and mutilated her body before it
was dumped in an open veld.
(....)
January 24, 2011
- Couple appears in court over muthi murder
They run a church and wanted to use muthi to grow the congregation
as numbers were dwindling.
A couple, arrested in connection with the murder of a 4-year-old
girl in 2009, appeared in the Alberton magistrate's court yesterday.
The couple was arrested in their home in Katlehong on the East Rand
on Tuesday. The man and his wife allegedly killed the girl and
mutilated her body before it was dumped. The body was found on
September 26, 2009 dumped near Cash and Carry store in Katlehong.
Gauteng top cop Happy Vilankulu tracked down the couple who run a
church in the area and arrested them.
Vilankulu has cracked many other muthi-related murders in the past,
including the conviction of Vusi Sibiya and co-accused Xolani
Kubheka and Siphiwe Khanyile, who killed Johannes Banda. In 2006,
Sibiya promised Kubheka and Khanyile R2000 if they brought him a
human head and genitals.
He also arrested Elizabeth Thabethe, who was accused of killing her
12-year-old daughter Nomsa for muthi purposes.
"The man, who is a bishop of a local church, has confessed that he
killed the girl for muthi," alleged a source close to the case. "He
said he was going to use muthi to strengthen his church. He said the
number of members was dwindling and he wanted to bring them back."
Vilankulu said the couple worked with an inyanga from the Eastern
Cape. "Police are on their way to Mthatha to arrest the inyanga,"
said the source.
Police said when the girl's body was found, her eye and parts of her
body had been removed.
They recovered some of the human tissue in which tests confirmed
that they belonged to the girl.
Police did not rule out the possibility of the suspects being linked
to other cases with the same modus operandi that have occurred in
the area.
(....)
January 21, 2011
- Murder couple arrested
A Katlehong couple has been arrested in connection with the murder
of a 4-year old girl, whose body had been mutilated.
The Gauteng organised crime unit arrested the 49-year-old husband
and his 51-year-old wife after following up on information they had
received since the girl disappeared two years ago.
The body of the girl was found dumped on September 26 2009 near Cash
and Carry in Katlehong.
Police spokesperson Captain Katleho Mogale said when the girl's body
was found, her eye and parts of her body had been removed.
"Police recovered some of the human tissue in which the initial
tests confirmed that they belonged to the 4-year-old," Mogale said.
The police are not ruling out the possibility of the suspects being
linked to other cases with the same modus operandi that have
occurred in the area.
(....)
January 19, 2011
- Inyanga held for possessing body parts
Gangsters allegedly brought the severed body parts to the inyanga.
Verulam's Cottonland community, near Durban, looked on in shock on
Tuesday when police uncovered a foot and hand in the yard of an
inyanga.
The body parts, which police believe belonged to a man who was in
his 30s, were found in two black bags at the back of an outside
toilet on the inyanga's property.
(....)
The police believe the inyanga might have bought the parts for muthi.
(....)
The Verulam crime intelligence unit was tipped off by residents on
Tuesday after they saw the inyanga talking to alleged gangsters
carrying black bags.
The gangsters apparently brought the severed body parts to the
inyanga.
(....)
Residents said they feared for their lives after the discovery. They
said a corpse was found in the area two years ago and two children
went missing. The residents, who refused to be named, said: "Two
children have gone missing in this area and have never been found.
(....)
August 5, 2010
- Taximan 'steals' boy for muthi
A Taxi driver has been arrested for allegedly trying to abduct an
11-year-old boy for muthi purposes at the sprawling Kanana shackland
in Gugulethu on Saturday night.
(....)
The boy went into a spaza shop at about 10pm with his sister when a
Toyota Quantum taxi driver, who was buying from the same shop, sent
him to "fetch" his wallet in the taxi. The driver followed the boy
to the taxi and when the youngster was in the vehicle the man
climbed in and sped off with him.
The boy's mother, Nokuthula Maweya, said neighbours who saw her boy
being whisked away alerted her.
(....)
The police were able to corner the taxi in Lower Crossroads. The boy
was returned unharmed but told his mother that the driver had said a
sangoma named Gaba was waiting for his limbs.
(...) The angry mother said the driver must thank his ancestors that
the police were the first to catch him. (...) My brothers are
spitting fire, and had they caught him they would be the ones facing
the magistrate now."
(....)
October 18, 2010
- I killed and mutilated my son, mother tells court
A Gauteng mother who stabbed her 5-year-old son to death before
mutilating him, because she believed he was the source of her
problems, has been convicted of murder in the Pretoria high court.
(....)
Pinky Mmolai (not her real name), a mother of three, (....) earlier
described the murder that happened in November 2008 in her
statement.
She said she killed her second son, Ntwana, because she could not
cope with her financial circumstances, and feared the boy would
become a criminal like his father.
(....)
"I put him on the floor and stabbed him around five times with a
knife I took from my mother's house. He died on the scene quickly
due to the stabs," she said. "I then had the idea to remove his ear
and private parts to divert attention from myself as the culprit by
creating the impression that he was the victim of a muthi murder
committed by an unknown person."
(....)
Mmolai's trial was postponed to March 25 next year for a
psychological report.
(....)
August 24, 2010
Webmaster's note (FVDK): Between 2010 (above) and 2007 (below)
many cases of ritual killings for muti or muthi purposes have been
reported. They will appear on this site in due course.
Unfortunately, some of the links referred to below no longer exist.
However, I have archived a number of them as well as other murder cases; this
information will be included in a new site I will start in 2011,
exclusively dealing with ritual killings in Africa.
- Cops probe possible muti killing
Police were on Wednesday investigating a possible muti murder in the
northern parts of the Tshwane metro municipality (....) in Temba.
The mutilated body of eight-year-old Tshegofatso Madidilala, who
went missing at the weekend, was discovered on Tuesday. (....) It is
believed she was raped and strangled, before several body parts were
removed.
(....)
Earlier this year, four men and a 14-year-old boy were arrested in
connection with 10-year-old Masego Kgomo’s murder - another
suspected case of ritual murder for muti purposes.
(....)
March 10, 2010
- A 42-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a
woman and removing parts of her body in Thohoyandou, Limpopo police
said today. The man's arrest follows the murder last year of a
35-year-old woman, said Ailwei Mushavhanamadi, a police spokesperson.
March 31, 2007
- Ritual killing: Ex-guard held
The murder apparently happened on December 9 2006, a day after
the year-end party at Tsitsikamma diamond mine near Plooysburg.
Modise said preliminary investigations were conducted, and police
suspected that Sedumoeng was the victim of a ritual murder.
March 19, 2007
- South Africa looks at ritual murders
At least 50 suspected cases of ritual murder have been noted in
South Africa's far northern Limpopo Province, according to a report
(...). The report follows the establishment of a provincial task
team into crimes of this nature and public hearings around the
province, where cases of murder for ritual purposes - also referred
to as 'muti murders' for the link to traditional medicine using
human body parts - are widely reported.
(...)
'Our people continue living in fear,' Nchabeleng said. 'They know
that anything is possible at anytime.'
(...)
Ritual murders have been reported throughout the country.
Last year a young woman from Limpopo survived an attack in which her
lips were cut off while her boyfriend died after his genitals were
removed. Some weeks ago, meanwhile, a man lost his tongue in an
attack reportedly also with ritual links.
(...)
October 26, 2006
- Muti hijack foiled
The
continuous spate of ritual murders in Vhembe is a fact. This follows
after Mashudu Munzhelele (35) of Tshifudi, Munangwa village,
unexpectedly overpowered suspected ritual killers who wanted to
murder him for muti purposes at the Mutshundudzi River on Monday.
August 11, 2006
- The latest victim of ritual
murder
Ms Thinandavha was buried
at her home village of Mulodi during the weekend. Her mutilated body
was discovered at Mulodi Mountain last Sunday. Her upper lip, right
handpalm, left ear and the front part of her breasts were sliced off.
She was naked from the waist down and a rope was tied around her
neck.
August 2006
- Another case of ritual killing
Pretoria police are offering a reward for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of the killers of four-year-old Connie Ncube.
In what appeared to be a muti killing, her mutilated body was found
in a river in Nellmapius, east of Pretoria, in February.
March 28, 2006
- Police accused of
ignoring ritual murders
Even in a country grown accustomed to
horrific acts of violence, it is a crime that still shocks. ''Muti
murder'', in which human body parts are removed to be used in
traditional "medicine", is increasing in South Africa - but victims'
families complain that the police too often ignore it.
March 26, 2006
- In South Africa, where the
government set up a Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence
and Ritual Murders after a spate of killings of boys aged between
one and six in Soweto, it is estimated that at least 300 people have
been murdered for their body parts in the past decade. The figure
could be as high as 500 a year.
April
8, 2003
- Head cooked for battle success
A man's head was found cut open and barbecuing on a witchdoctor's
spit not far from the Christian News headquarters in KwaZulu-Natal.
The traditional healer, 76 year old Mzukuzuku Dlamini, told the
police that he was preparing it to provide stronger "muti" (witchcraft
medicine) for a faction of a local warring tribe, the Amabomvu.
(...)
How to get a head in business
The Mail & Guardian (October 9 to 15, 1998) had similar news (...):
(...) "selling human body parts is a lucrative business in South
Africa. Prices for eyes, breasts, brains or genitals range from
R1000 to R10,000 - depending on the body part for sale ... most
traditional healers are afraid to talk about this thriving bloody
commerce." Their reputation for supernatural powers prompts
businessmen to consult certain `sangomas' to help with "ukuthwala" (accumulation
of wealth). The sangoma will recommend certain human body parts as
ingredients to be used in brewing the muti.
(...)
October 30, 1998
- Witchcraft and Ritual Killing
(....)
Some Indian businessmen and traders in South Africa and Zambia are
also thought to indirectly participate in ritual killings to secure
medicine that will ensure the success of their businesses. There
are, of course, ways around the outright killing of someone to
obtain human tissue. In Johannesburg, a White police officer at a
mortuary was alleged to be supplying traditional healers with human
fat, harvested from the corpses he was paid to protect (Report of
the Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual
Murders in the Northern Province of the Republic of South Africa,
1995).
Source: David
Simmons 1999
|
Calls to make witchcraft a criminal offense
January 13, 2010
PhD Thesis: Traumatic Ritual Murders in Venda (2005)
By Robert Munthali
University of Pretoria (2006)
pdf-file
What is a muti murder?
See bottom of page
A 25 minutes movie on muti murders in South Africa on
You Tube
An estimated 300 people are sacrificed every year in South Africa so
that their body parts to be used in traditional Muti medicine. The
figure could be as high as 500. Most of these are young children,
tortured to death.
"It's done while she's still alive because the more
she screams, the more powerful the Muti's going to be," explains crime
expert Kobus Jonker, gesturing at the picture of a mutilated six year
old girl. He was the first South African to acknowledge Muti murders and
has set up a special police unit to deal with it. But Muti murders are
notoriously hard to prosecute. "My son will never sleep in peace,"
laments Salome Chokwe. Her ten year old boy, Sello, disappeared when out
herding. By the time she found him it was too late. His hands, genitals,
tongue and brain had been 'harvested'. Most practitioners use nothing
more sinister than roots and leaves to make their Muti. But belief in
the power of human body parts continues to fuel a demand for the 'other'
type of Muti.
Source:
Journeymanpictures
November 22, 2007
Putting the spotlight on muti murders
Since the gruesome discovery of a young African boy’s torso in the
Thames River in September 2001 in London, Oliver G. Becker embarked on
an intensive study of the subject of muti murders. The young boy, known
to Scotland Yard only as Adam, was brutally killed and slaughtered for
muti purposes (...)
Becker has produced several documentaries and a scientific paper on the
matter.
August 11, 2006
What is a muti murder?
"A muti
murder is the
killing of a
person in order to use their body parts for
muti –
African
traditional
medicine. The parts will often be taken from the victim shortly
before
death.
Genitals are often taken for fertility spells.
Internal organs are often taken, as are breasts, hands and feet.
African traditional medicine is not always magical in its methods, but
it's safe to assume that any method, that for instance, requires you to
cut off the genitalia of a fertile man, the hands of a prosperous
business rival, or remove a man's liver while his dying screams give the
medicine its potency is an attempt at magic of the blackest kind.
Often the
sangoma will tell the client what parts are necessary for the
spell, but will leave the deed up the to the client. Money often
changes hands, and a complete stranger is seldom targeted. A family
member or acquaintance is preferred.
Estimates of the number of muti murders range from one per month to
one per day in
South Africa alone. (...)."
Source:
Everything2/StrawberryFrog
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