Kenyan Witchhunt Leaves 11 Burned To Death

A Mob In Western Kenya Hunted Down 8 Women, 3 Men Accused of Witchcraft

(AP)  Officials in Kenya say a mob has killed 11 people accused of being witches and wizards, in some cases slitting their throats or clubbing them to death before burning their bodies.

A local official says up to 300 young men moved from house to house, using a list of suspected witches and wizards and the kind of spells they were believed to have cast on the community. One local official says the victims are being accused of "making the bright children in the community dumb."

A police spokesman says eight women and three men — most over the age of 70 — were hunted down and killed. Another officer says the mob set 36 homes on fire and threw the victims' bodies back inside.

Deputy police spokesman Charles Owino says the mob hunted down the eight women and three men in two villages in the western Kenya district of Kisii Central. Owino says most of the victims were between 70 and 90 years old.

Senior administrator Njoroge Ndirangu says the mob used a list Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to hunt down people they said were suspected witches and wizards.

"These people identified who is to be killed by accusing their victims of bewitching their sons and daughters," says Ndirangu. Ndirangu is the commissioner in charge of Kisii Central district.

[spargle]

or conservatives

[newsjunky5]

The people of Kenya have done the right thing, provided those punished were in fact witches and wizards. Of course, there still must be a trial(with a verdict of guilty), positive forensic witch-testing, etc. before we can responsibly say that they did actually employ witchcraft.

[mexinvasion]

Now thats just mean.

[irliberal]

Witch hunts? I didn''t know Kenya had Republicans. That''s sad... Here in the states there are laws against that so they just have to cluch their guns and crucifixes tighter. 8-)

[neonink]

Didn''t Kenya vote for Obama?

[neonink]

was that the 37th state?

[blazercoach1]

Perhaps the victims dared to question global warming or evolution.

[jboxton]

What the hell year is this? Man I''m glad I live in the civilized world.

[mike71067]

"The most backward government the world currently knows burns witches, while most enlightened government the world has ever known, merely tortures."
-Posted by Nancy_Naive at 01:25 PM : May 21, 2008

Trying to live up to the "naive" name, I see. If you can''t see the difference between killing people suspected of being "witches", "warlocks", "boogie-men", or whatever, as opposed to interrogating people who pose a very real global threat to all of us, then I''m sorry to say that I cannot help you.

[mike71067]

"Here in the states there are laws against that so they just have to cluch their guns and crucifixes tighter. 8-)"
-Posted by IRLiberal at 01:01 PM : May 21, 2008

You and Obama are probably butt-buddies. Keep on displaying your ignorance and hatred to those who differ from you.

[facts6]

This is none of our business.

[antoniof123]

Wow, this is great with any luck the wing nut Republican party will move there and we will be rid of them.

This is right up your alley neo cons.

[haoli25]

Quick, send Sharpton and Jackson over there to investigate.

[blazercoach1]

Perhaps the victims dared to question global warming, or maybe evolution......

[erasmus81]

"Man I''''m glad I live in the civilized world." Posted by jboxton at 01:39 PM : May 21, 2008

Is that what you call your world? Civilized?

[zykracosmos]

Well, it happened in this country, didn''t it? It happened in Spain. Anytime a group of people believe in supernaturalism, there is no limit to how much of a frenzy they can work themselves into. I''m reading below about folks who declare a movie character is an enemy of their supernatural deity. These folks are scary, and I avoid having anything to do with any of them. The best route we have to truth and understanding is the process of scientific inquiry. I am comforted by the sound logic and advice of Carl Sagan, who wrote the book "Science As a Candle in the Dark," which I recommend to anyone who is ready to break the shackles of superstition. As long as there are people who are willing to have faith in a concept without any empirical evidence, we will continue to witness tragedies such as this one in Kenya, as well as in other parts of the world.

[Torilin]

Remember that we can''''t impose our "western-centric" values on these people. We all should support this diverse culture of witch-burning.
----------------------------------------
No, we can''t impose but we had been there...Spanish inquisition anyone? Of course we should support them cuz we would have done the same...witch hunt is right up our alley.

[libh8er]

Must have been caught having s e x while using con*doms. And this is where Ubama hails from, huh?

[lamotte4]

burn these sons-a*bit-hes at the stake and then slit their families throats.

[quetzalcrist]

this is so sad,
did a new church just open up?

sounds like an Evangelical type has these poor people corrupted.

[cpaide]

"They were evangelical christians. Of course we support their witch-burning diversity. Jesus told them to do it."
Posted by FloydZepp

not hardly, bro. the "witches" were supposedly casting spells that shrunk people''s *******. no kidding, you can read about it anywhere but cbs.

[cpaide]

this is just another example of black on black violence fueled by ignorance, much as we witness here on the cbs comment zone.

[guadalcanal3]

Send in Jimmy Carter.

[mitywhity]

You spoke too soon - their own misguided superstitions led them to this, NOT evangelical missionaries. You atheists just can''t take the time to do three minutes of research before you fire your guns, can you?

[sgtrds-e4]

But then, Atheists have yet to burn a witch, or kill in the name of God..

Regards,

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:50 PM : May 21, 2008

RAmen.

[keithle1]

American Blacks need to stop calling themselves AFRICAN-Americans. What have you got in common with them besides the obvious? Zippo.

[nothappyatall]

Well MIKE, what you fail to realize is torture is proven DOES NOT WORK, because under torture the person will admit or say ANYTHING to make it stop, it''s beena proven fact, so under bush''s regime TORTURE any information obtained is to be immediately considered dubious, bogus and suspect as FALSE.
Maybe YOU are comfortable with ''inteligence'' obtained that way that is certainly going to be BOGUS, WRONG etc, but I''m not.
The bush regime can CLAIM anything they like about info allegedly valid obtained by torture, the facts remain torture is not a valid way to get real information.

[nothappyatall]

You spoke too soon - their own misguided superstitions led them to this, NOT evangelical missionaries. You atheists just can''''t take the time to do three minutes of research before you fire your guns, can you?

Posted by MityWhity
"

OH?
Maybe you totally missed the bloody Christian crusades, reformation, Salem witch trials, inquisition and more which slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people, Add in the blasphemy and heresy trials.

"Witches" are a catholic/christian fear for the most part, backed up too by the part of the holy buybull that says "suffer not a witch to live"- used by devoute CHRISTIANS and their ilk to arrest, try and kill people suspected as "witches".

[nothappyatall]

I might add there are LOTS of christian CHURCHES in South Africa and the like, Africa is NOT some Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom documentary any more with Marlin Perkins riding shotgun on a land rover for days in the wilderness without seeing a town or people.

Go do some research on MODERN Africa, I hear they have TV, internet, computers, even CARS now!!
They were corrupted by the church of england and the like.

Official site of the Church of England in South Africa including its beliefs, vision, ministers, churches, college, news and contact details.
cesa.org.za/

Religion, church, churches, mosques, cathedrals, worship, South Africa
Flowers & Gifts delivered throughout South Africa, National, South African Council of Churches. Anglican. International, Archbishop of Canterbury ...
www.saeverything.co.za/religion.htm

Lutheran Churches in Southern Africa
There are a number of Lutheran Churches and Co-operative Ventures in South and Southern Africa:. Lutheran Churches associated with the Lutheran World ...
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/7589/luther_en.html

The Methodist Church of Southern Africa operates in six countries of the sub-continent - Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. ...
www.methodist.org.za/

[sgtrds-e4]

I wonder if I could get them to go after my ex-mother-in-law? She sure qualifies!

[erasmus81]

"I wonder if I could get them to go after my ex-mother-in-law? She sure qualifies!" Posted by SgtRDS-E4 at 10:01 PM : May 21, 2008

Now that wasn''t nice. Now if she was a real witch, you would be toast.:)

"Officials in Kenya say a mob has killed 11 people accused of being witches and wizards, in some cases slitting their throats or clubbing them to death before burning their bodies."

I think they killed the wrong people. REAL witches would not allowed this to happen.:)

[rushlimpdrug]

This explains the shortage of witches.

Remember folks when witches are outlaws only
outlaws will be . . .

Hey, when did I grow a tail?

[erasmus81]

"Hey, when did I grow a tail?" Posted by rushlimpdrug at 10:22 PM : May 21, 2008

I don''t know, but I think it has been there for awhile.

[milesbrown49]

As strange as this may sound, evilness is real. We may identify witches and warlocks as we see them on TV, but the truth is they do not possess "magical" powers just medicinal knowledge that can be dangerous if practiced incorrectly. There is also pycological knowledge that is just as dangers, like demonizing someone you don''t like and causing them pain and discomfort from the community. It is not magical witches that they are talking about!!!

[libh8er]

But then, Atheists have yet to burn a witch, or kill in the name of God..
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:50 PM : May 21, 2008

No, they just use activest judges and the courts to undermine the very judaeo/christian foundations this country was built upon. So, in a way, yes you do.

[idowhatiwant]

holy rollers. what wrong with you people.

the article was about kenyans killing witches and wizards. how did this turn out to be a religous debate.

oh hail rainbow bright.

[avigil2]

For God''s sakes! Can World News be any more depressing?

[jhance11]

I''ve always found the term activist Judge to be interesting. I''m pretty sure "libh8er" if truly put to the test couldn''t explain what he thinks an activist judge is. Oh I know the standard Repuplican line is(tired diatrib and all) But as this years election is about to show people are seeing through that kind of BS. I often finsd people want to add those labels on people who dare to diasgree with them.
Getting back to the religous air of this story. Should we go back to Salam witchhunts done with the approval of the Prodistant church, How about the Crusades, the Catholic Pope at that time( the first one) Declared all who joined the army to rid the holy land of usurpers earned A one way ticket to Heaven(most would need that as many never returned) or should we discuss the inquisition, responsilble for 250,000 lives (mostly women) Lost. Look guys I''m A believer in the Devine. However, to say anyone here knows what that may be without any real evidence at all is well, naive at best dangerous at worst. It''s about power and control with people in the background pulling the strings. To the buyer beware as they say.

[trishab4]

CBS: One local official says the victims are being accused of "making the bright children in the community dumb."

-Did those idiot parents check for any new TV set they purchased recently! THAT may be a serious cause of their children''s dumbness, aside from their own idiocy genetics transmitted to their offspring! lol!

[milesbrown49]

trishab4: Sounds like you got the dumb gene!!! We know that if children are exposed to lead their cognitive development is affected. There are other drugs, minerals and ores that do the same. Some people are evil and will expose a child to these things because they are jealouse or vengeful. Thats why we call them witches!! Kind of like the Colonist to the Africans!!!

[jboxton]

We should just drop a few bombs on that backwards dark ages country.

[keithle1]

How would you be able to tell the difference from the way it is now?

[keithle1]

Find me a black American who wants to move to an African country to live.