Source: The Associated Press
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) - At least 34 people, most of
them elderly women, have been killed this year in western
Tanzania as suspected witches, a newspaper reported.
The Kiswahili language newspaper Nipashe (Inform Me) on
Friday quoted Tabora Provincial Commissioner Stephen
Mashishanga as saying that most of the victims were elderly
women whose eyes turned red from years of standing over cow
dung cooking fires.
Although villagers often accuse red-eyed women of being
witches, investigators and sociologists say this is often
used as an excuse by family members to get rid of women in
order to seize their property.
Mashishanga, who is also chairman of a regional security
commission, said the killings were a result of villagers'
belief in witchcraft.
He said witchcraft-related deaths during the period from
January to October has increased by 13 over the figure for
the previous year when 21 deaths were reported.
A report earlier this year by Tanzania's Criminal
Investigation Division said at least 101 killings linked to
witchcraft had been reported in the first eight months of
the year throughout the East African nation.
Police have also linked the killings to the cross-border
trade in human skin with neighboring Zambia, where some
people believe that human skin protects a home from demons
and spirits.
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Date: 11/20/99
Report: Suspected Witches Killed
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