Family alleges Jasper-style dragging in Paris, Texas
By Jesse MuhammadSpecial to the NNPA from the Final Call
PARIS, Texas (NNPA)—When the body of a 24-year-old black man in Paris, Texas was discovered in the middle of a busy road, law enforcement declared the case a hit and run by an unidentified driver.
Now this small racially-divided town’s worst fears are brewing, with evidence pointing towards two white men who picked up Brandon Clelland in their Dodge truck before he was found mutilated and dismembered in September.
Forensics performed by the Texas Rangers found blood from McClelland and other DNA evidence on the undercarriage of the truck which has the victim’s family calling the death a “Jasper-style” dragging. The term is a reference to the murder of a black man in Jasper, Texas in 1998.
“The tied my son to that truck and drugged him until his body parts were detached,” said Jacqueline McClelland, the victim’s mother in an interview with The Final Call. “His body was so destroyed that it could not even be embalmed by the funeral home. This is a hate crime. I don’t want the death penalty for these killers because that would be too quick. I want them to suffer for life in jail without parole since I will never have my son back.”
The Lamar County District Attorney has decided race is not a factor in the death of McClelland because he was friends with alleged assailants Shannon Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley. Both men are 27-years-old.
Angry family members and community activists, however, are demanding a thorough investigation into a possible hate crime they say parallels the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, which is several hours south of Paris.
In 1998, Byrd was strapped to a pickup truck and dragged to death by three white supremacists eventually convicted of murder. The case spurred massive protests and drew international outcry Paris authorities are trying to stunt, but may have a hard time avoiding.
According to a police report, Mc- Clelland was walking in front of the pickup a little after 4 a.m. on Sept. 16 when Finley and Crostley allegedly ran him down and dragged him up and down a Lamar County road until his disfigured body popped out from beneath the chassis.
“I don’t see how it was racial, being as how they were good friends,” said Stacy McNeal to the local press.
McNeal is the Texas Ranger who is leading the investigation.
“This was not a hit and run. They (Finley’s family) hid the truck and even tried to wash the blood off. The police didn’t even tape off the crime scene and some of my son’s body parts were still lying out there,” said Jacqueline McClelland, as she wiped away tears. “If that would have been a white person killed they would have handled this immediately. This is just like Jasper.”
McClelland added that her family was forced to have the funeral quickly due to pressure applied to the funeral home director. The family wanted to delay the funeral to allow for more investigation, she said.
“He (the funeral director) was told by the police to hurry up and put the body in the ground because they didn’t want any trouble coming to this town,” said McClelland. “They took the life of my only son.”
“I was awakened by our dog barking around 4:25 a.m. but I couldn’t see what occurred because our camper trailer was blocking my view from my back porch. I wish I could have seen more,” said Bobbi Baker.
Baker, who is white, lives with her husband and son a few feet from the crime scene.
“We think this is horrible,” said Jim Baker, who added that eight law enforcement officers live nearby so “things like this hardly happen over here and this was sad.”
Crostley was arrested and is being held in the Lamar County Jail with a bail exceeding $500,000. Finley has waived his right to extradition from Wichita, Kan., where he was arrested. Both men are charged with murder and tampering with evidence.
In 2003, Lamar County D.A. Gary Young served as Finley’s court-appointed defense attorney when Finley pleaded guilty to manslaughter for shooting a friend to death.
The victim in the Finley manslaughter case was white and Finely told police he was sitting in a truck with his friend when two black men tried to rob them. Finley said he fired at the robbers but accidentally shot his friend.
An autopsy determined the victim suffered three gunshot wounds to the head, but the district attorney at the time accepted Finley’s story that the shooting was an accident. He was offered a plea bargain on a reduced manslaughter charge and eventually served a little over a year of a four-year prison sentence. The alleged robbers were never found.
Ironically, McClelland falsely testified before a grand jury that Finley was with him at the time of the shooting. For lying under oath, McClelland was convicted of aggravated perjury and served more than two years in prison.
Members of the New Black Panther Party, Houston Millions More Movement and the Nation of Islam conducted a fact finding mission in Paris on Oct. 5 to comfort the grieving family, interview witnesses and plan a massive town hall meeting at the end of the month.
“We want justice for this family and we want these two criminals prosecuted to the fullness of the law,” said Krystal Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party. “We will be monitoring this case closely.”
New Black Panther Party members met with District Attorney Young Oct. 6 and held a press conference downtown.
“We are asking for an outside agency to come in and ensure that justice is served,” said party member Derrick Brown.
“This is a hate crime,” said Paris activist Brenda Cherry to The Final Call. She has been working with the McClelland family. “This is just like Jasper all over again.”
“This killing does not surprise me and it bears witness to the racism that still exists in Paris and other towns,” Creola Cotton told The Final Call.
Cotton knows firsthand about Paris’ racial disparities. Last year, her then 14-year-old black daughter, Shaquanda Cotton, was sentenced by a local judge to up to seven years in detention for shoving a hall monitor at her high school. Just three months earlier, the same judge sentenced a 14- year-old white girl to probation after convicting her of torching her family’s house. The case drew national attention and resulted in Shaquanda’s early release.
“Recently after nooses started popping up everywhere, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan warned us that these type of hate filled activities would increase,” said Deric Muhammad of the Millions More Movement, who visited the victim’s family and the crime scene. “That crime scene looked like the aftermath of a bloody lynching. If this is not a hate crime, I don’t know what is.”
Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.
Source:
http://www.frostillustrated.com/full.php?sid=4540
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Bangkok protesters adopt witchcraft to topple Thai government
Bangkok protesters adopt witchcraft to topple Thai government
Anti-government protesters in Bangkok have resorted to sorcery and black magic in their campaign to topple the elected administration.
By Thomas Bell in Bangkok Last Updated: 11:26AM GMT 10 Nov 2008
Many Thais are shocked by some highly controversial magical practices.
Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the leaders of the group which is illegally occupying the seat of Thai government, claimed in a recent televised speech that a wicked wizard has blocked the protective power of some of Bangkok's holiest sites.
Mr Sondhi and his so called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) claim that they are protecting Thailand and its monarchy from allegedly corrupt democratic politicians.
The technique Mr Sonhi used to break the alleged spell sounds extreme.
He described how his own magicians removed six imaginary nails that had been placed around a towering royal statue in the city centre to block its power.
"I must thank the women of the PAD," he continued, "because after [the imaginary nails] were pulled out, to ensure they could not be replaced, they took sanitary napkins from menstruating women and placed them over the six points.
"Experts said the (evil wizards) were furious because they could not send their spirits back," Mr Sondhi boasted, "Their magic was rendered ineffective!"
In Thai superstition women's sexuality, and especially menstrual blood, is believed to have great destructive power.
"People who don't like the PAD will think they have lost it and gone quite mad," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist. But he added, "A lot of Thai people believe in this."
The PAD has occupied Government house since August, demanding the government step down. Last month Queen Sirikit, wife of Thailand's revered King Bhumibol gave the movement her public support.
Critics say that the PAD aims to disenfranchise the majority or poor voters whose power at the ballot box threatens the old elite.
This week Mr Sondhi denied that he believes in black magic. Dressed in white and sprinkling Government House with holy water he told the Bangkok Post, "The rituals I performed are paying homage to sacred spirits and my respected teachers."
Dr Thitinan said the magic is designed to appeal emotionally to supporters. "It's manipulation, it's spin, it's some genuine belief," he said. "Going around sprinkling holy water means things are not going your way, you want to chase the demons away."
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/3415789/Bangkok-protesters-adopt-witchcraft-to-topple-Thai-government.html
Anti-government protesters in Bangkok have resorted to sorcery and black magic in their campaign to topple the elected administration.
By Thomas Bell in Bangkok Last Updated: 11:26AM GMT 10 Nov 2008
Many Thais are shocked by some highly controversial magical practices.
Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the leaders of the group which is illegally occupying the seat of Thai government, claimed in a recent televised speech that a wicked wizard has blocked the protective power of some of Bangkok's holiest sites.
Mr Sondhi and his so called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) claim that they are protecting Thailand and its monarchy from allegedly corrupt democratic politicians.
The technique Mr Sonhi used to break the alleged spell sounds extreme.
He described how his own magicians removed six imaginary nails that had been placed around a towering royal statue in the city centre to block its power.
"I must thank the women of the PAD," he continued, "because after [the imaginary nails] were pulled out, to ensure they could not be replaced, they took sanitary napkins from menstruating women and placed them over the six points.
"Experts said the (evil wizards) were furious because they could not send their spirits back," Mr Sondhi boasted, "Their magic was rendered ineffective!"
In Thai superstition women's sexuality, and especially menstrual blood, is believed to have great destructive power.
"People who don't like the PAD will think they have lost it and gone quite mad," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist. But he added, "A lot of Thai people believe in this."
The PAD has occupied Government house since August, demanding the government step down. Last month Queen Sirikit, wife of Thailand's revered King Bhumibol gave the movement her public support.
Critics say that the PAD aims to disenfranchise the majority or poor voters whose power at the ballot box threatens the old elite.
This week Mr Sondhi denied that he believes in black magic. Dressed in white and sprinkling Government House with holy water he told the Bangkok Post, "The rituals I performed are paying homage to sacred spirits and my respected teachers."
Dr Thitinan said the magic is designed to appeal emotionally to supporters. "It's manipulation, it's spin, it's some genuine belief," he said. "Going around sprinkling holy water means things are not going your way, you want to chase the demons away."
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/3415789/Bangkok-protesters-adopt-witchcraft-to-topple-Thai-government.html
Angry Witches and Wizards Confront Governor Akpabio
Angry Witches and Wizards Confront Governor Akpabio
By Taju Tijani
Unpleasant, distasteful, disgraceful, annoying and haunting. These are the ready adjectival qualifiers for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme titled “Saving Africa’s Witch Children”, shown on Wednesday 12 November, 2008. The producers were sadistically deadpan in their engagement with the viewers’ repulsive emotion. It is a case of going for the jugular of our humanity to see how loud we could scream with our conscience. My conscience screamed along with other UK based Nigerians whose evening was shattered when the camera began to document another evil variant of our collective bastardy.
A paralysing Pandora box of Nigeria’s unbroken epic of the tale of the unexpected was thrown rudely across our living rooms. It was a grand spoiler. The menu was more of appetite suppressant than the rich delicacy of Akwa Ibom edikaikong. An exuberant, energetic, white foreigner who played the role of a messiah-redeemer was seen combing the creeks of Akwa Ibom State buying our children like chattel of slavery re-enactment. Gary Foxcroft, 29, of the charity body, Stepping Stones Nigeria, is the new reincarnated Bob Geldof. Foxcroft is championing a cause to emancipate Nigerian witch children from the hands of deadly, psychotic, machete-wielding witch and wizard hunters in the villages and towns of Akwa Ibom State.
Among Africa’s shackling demons, witchcraft is the most fearsome. It is in our existence, folklore and our everyday conversation. Every African has one closet witch in his family, I must say, until the day of confession-to- deliverance. Families have been ruined and marriages destroyed when witchcraft grenades are lobbed as weapons of warfare in our society. I am sure we all know one man, woman, relation, neighbour or friend whose life has been emptied of meaning either as a victim of a sustained witchcraft attacks or a card carrying coven attendee.
Gary Foxcroft, a young Englishman, is leading the dance for a new crusade to return sanity back to the people of Akwa Ibom whose confusing blinker has led to senseless beating, detention, starvation, mutilation, rejection and horrid murder of innocent children branded as witches and wizards. Bishop Sunday Ulup-Aya, a murderer and an ignoble village jester who doubles as exorcist and deliverer estimated that among Akwa Ibomites, 2.3million of its humanity morph nightly into birds of terror leaving their victims barren, unemployed, deaf, dumb, pauperised, ill, maimed and disorientated. And those of them whose teeth are like graders enjoy nightly feast on human kidneys, heart and flesh.
Ulup-Aya charges N400, 000 to perform bloody exorcism on children who have been initiated into witchcraft. His magic alchemy is the fusion of traditional medicine with Biblical sophistry. He gave it a chic name: poison destroyer. This tool of deceit has made our village urchin rich, influential and sought after as the Grand Exorcist of the Ibomite Witchcraft Order. He even boasted that he had killed 110 of the little angels branded as possessing wicked powers. A murderous bishop, you might say.
As the programme progresses in its relentless portrayal of Nigeria’s Pentecostal bestiality, Gary Foxcroft, a lone white face in a sea of blackness stretched forth his comforting hands to the dazed, dehumanised and despoiled witch children. These children, many of them bedraggled, burdened and betrothed to the waiting embrace of death, rallied round to their white messiah to bring to a glorifying life, Christ call to the weary and burdened in Matthew 11v 28-30.
Foxcroft is a capable hand. There is compulsive passion in his method which is vehemently set against the evil beliefs and barbaric practices of the people of Akwa Ibom. He is also a witness to evil. He has seen the evil of adulterated Christianity that fuses Africanised custom into the sacrament of Christ. There is a sacrilegious greed when the teaching of Jesus Christ- the diluted variant- becomes a convenient cover to exploit, extort and exert irresponsible power on abandoned, ostracised and traumatised minors falsely accused as coven conveners.
Who best typifies this exemplar of Pentecostal exploitation and greed than the self-styled Prophetess Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church? Akpabiosis has led to the resurgence of witch hunting on a massive scale in Akwa Ibom. Ukpabio, rich, vocal, witch hunter and businesswoman preys on innocent children. Going by the amount of videos and DVD she has made, she is a Christian Industrialist. She has created an industry of fear, where, a macabre but thriving genre of flesh tingling, horror-laden, ghoulish and blood suckling drama on the inner secrets of witchcraft are given celluloid reality. Her film, “End of The Wicked” is so unrelenting in its gory details of flesh eating witches that it sails close to screen overkill.
The media feast on the insane criminality of Akwa Ibom and its sordid maltreatment of little witch children is bringing about a moral catharsis among its famous sons. The Divisional Police Officer, Mr Esit Eket said that most of the locals are afraid to give evidence and serve as witness in cases of prosecutable offences. Chief Victor Ikot, the local traditional ruler calibrated anger and rained curses on the pastors who are exploiting the poverty and ignorance of his subjects. Meanwhile, not a single pastor has been convicted for falsely accusing gullible children as witches and wizards. Aposle Dr. Cletus Bassey, the zonal President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, defended the church but denounced Upkabio for creating a cloud of witchcraft fear through her films.
Then the State House invasion. Gary Foxcroft is an activist messiah and a grass root mobiliser. After cleaning his flock of ‘witches and wizards’ and turning them into shinning emerald, he has to take them to a kingly feast with the State Governor, Godswill Akpabio. Any Daily Monitor would have captioned the invasion as “Angry Witches and Wizards Confront Governor”. Mary, a 5 year old malnourished, ebony beauty, embattled and abandoned to Foxcroft led the baying witches and wizards on a long, craggy march to present their freedom chatter to the Governor. Foxcroft cuddled a 3 month’s old abandoned girl in his bosom all through the epochal event.
Foxcroft reminded me of Moses, the deliverer, as he led the children of Israel from servitude to triumphal grace. Confidently and regardless of the governmental pincers on the way, he led his singing hordes of witches and wizards to the fortified palace of Governor Akpabio. Then and then, a white foreigner’s humanity challenged African’s. Then my tears flowed freely. Mary, holding high her banner, “We are not witches or wizards” locked gaze with God Akpabio on his Mount Olympia. Foxcroft, lapping the moment with humble pride, yes an oxymoron, kissed the little angel on his chest, as he watched and compared the absurdity of two Nigerians. Akpabio is a scion of Nigerians who are God, lordly, rich, aloof and powerful. Mary and the little witches and wizards are the other Nigerians who are despised, denied, denounced, detained and dehumanised.
God Akpabio’s, nay, African humanity shrivelled in shame. Foxcroft, an immigrant from a distant shore cuddled, caressed, nursed and laughed with his burdened ‘witches and wizards’ under the burning African sun while God Akpabio, surrounded by his aides, mumbled a belated promise and evaporated into his marble palace. He did not, for the timeless connection of grace between him and the kids touched nor smiled to any of the ‘children witches and wizards’ he was voted to look after.
What is going on in Akwa Ibom outraged my Christianity. I become a converted Christian in 1999 without any delusion that the faith has been massively infiltrated by anti-Christ masquerading as angels of light. Regardless of the sustained assaults against the cross of Christ, I remain unshakeable and deeply committed to a faith that has given me redemption from the pit of darkness. Hallelujah!!! At last, I can laugh with malnourished Mary who had never known laughter until meeting Gary Foxcroft. A baby doll did it for her
Taju Tijani contributes articles to NigerianMuse.
Source:
http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20081117063855zg/articles/angry-witches-and-wizards-confront-governor-akpabio
By Taju Tijani
Unpleasant, distasteful, disgraceful, annoying and haunting. These are the ready adjectival qualifiers for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme titled “Saving Africa’s Witch Children”, shown on Wednesday 12 November, 2008. The producers were sadistically deadpan in their engagement with the viewers’ repulsive emotion. It is a case of going for the jugular of our humanity to see how loud we could scream with our conscience. My conscience screamed along with other UK based Nigerians whose evening was shattered when the camera began to document another evil variant of our collective bastardy.
A paralysing Pandora box of Nigeria’s unbroken epic of the tale of the unexpected was thrown rudely across our living rooms. It was a grand spoiler. The menu was more of appetite suppressant than the rich delicacy of Akwa Ibom edikaikong. An exuberant, energetic, white foreigner who played the role of a messiah-redeemer was seen combing the creeks of Akwa Ibom State buying our children like chattel of slavery re-enactment. Gary Foxcroft, 29, of the charity body, Stepping Stones Nigeria, is the new reincarnated Bob Geldof. Foxcroft is championing a cause to emancipate Nigerian witch children from the hands of deadly, psychotic, machete-wielding witch and wizard hunters in the villages and towns of Akwa Ibom State.
Among Africa’s shackling demons, witchcraft is the most fearsome. It is in our existence, folklore and our everyday conversation. Every African has one closet witch in his family, I must say, until the day of confession-to- deliverance. Families have been ruined and marriages destroyed when witchcraft grenades are lobbed as weapons of warfare in our society. I am sure we all know one man, woman, relation, neighbour or friend whose life has been emptied of meaning either as a victim of a sustained witchcraft attacks or a card carrying coven attendee.
Gary Foxcroft, a young Englishman, is leading the dance for a new crusade to return sanity back to the people of Akwa Ibom whose confusing blinker has led to senseless beating, detention, starvation, mutilation, rejection and horrid murder of innocent children branded as witches and wizards. Bishop Sunday Ulup-Aya, a murderer and an ignoble village jester who doubles as exorcist and deliverer estimated that among Akwa Ibomites, 2.3million of its humanity morph nightly into birds of terror leaving their victims barren, unemployed, deaf, dumb, pauperised, ill, maimed and disorientated. And those of them whose teeth are like graders enjoy nightly feast on human kidneys, heart and flesh.
Ulup-Aya charges N400, 000 to perform bloody exorcism on children who have been initiated into witchcraft. His magic alchemy is the fusion of traditional medicine with Biblical sophistry. He gave it a chic name: poison destroyer. This tool of deceit has made our village urchin rich, influential and sought after as the Grand Exorcist of the Ibomite Witchcraft Order. He even boasted that he had killed 110 of the little angels branded as possessing wicked powers. A murderous bishop, you might say.
As the programme progresses in its relentless portrayal of Nigeria’s Pentecostal bestiality, Gary Foxcroft, a lone white face in a sea of blackness stretched forth his comforting hands to the dazed, dehumanised and despoiled witch children. These children, many of them bedraggled, burdened and betrothed to the waiting embrace of death, rallied round to their white messiah to bring to a glorifying life, Christ call to the weary and burdened in Matthew 11v 28-30.
Foxcroft is a capable hand. There is compulsive passion in his method which is vehemently set against the evil beliefs and barbaric practices of the people of Akwa Ibom. He is also a witness to evil. He has seen the evil of adulterated Christianity that fuses Africanised custom into the sacrament of Christ. There is a sacrilegious greed when the teaching of Jesus Christ- the diluted variant- becomes a convenient cover to exploit, extort and exert irresponsible power on abandoned, ostracised and traumatised minors falsely accused as coven conveners.
Who best typifies this exemplar of Pentecostal exploitation and greed than the self-styled Prophetess Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church? Akpabiosis has led to the resurgence of witch hunting on a massive scale in Akwa Ibom. Ukpabio, rich, vocal, witch hunter and businesswoman preys on innocent children. Going by the amount of videos and DVD she has made, she is a Christian Industrialist. She has created an industry of fear, where, a macabre but thriving genre of flesh tingling, horror-laden, ghoulish and blood suckling drama on the inner secrets of witchcraft are given celluloid reality. Her film, “End of The Wicked” is so unrelenting in its gory details of flesh eating witches that it sails close to screen overkill.
The media feast on the insane criminality of Akwa Ibom and its sordid maltreatment of little witch children is bringing about a moral catharsis among its famous sons. The Divisional Police Officer, Mr Esit Eket said that most of the locals are afraid to give evidence and serve as witness in cases of prosecutable offences. Chief Victor Ikot, the local traditional ruler calibrated anger and rained curses on the pastors who are exploiting the poverty and ignorance of his subjects. Meanwhile, not a single pastor has been convicted for falsely accusing gullible children as witches and wizards. Aposle Dr. Cletus Bassey, the zonal President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, defended the church but denounced Upkabio for creating a cloud of witchcraft fear through her films.
Then the State House invasion. Gary Foxcroft is an activist messiah and a grass root mobiliser. After cleaning his flock of ‘witches and wizards’ and turning them into shinning emerald, he has to take them to a kingly feast with the State Governor, Godswill Akpabio. Any Daily Monitor would have captioned the invasion as “Angry Witches and Wizards Confront Governor”. Mary, a 5 year old malnourished, ebony beauty, embattled and abandoned to Foxcroft led the baying witches and wizards on a long, craggy march to present their freedom chatter to the Governor. Foxcroft cuddled a 3 month’s old abandoned girl in his bosom all through the epochal event.
Foxcroft reminded me of Moses, the deliverer, as he led the children of Israel from servitude to triumphal grace. Confidently and regardless of the governmental pincers on the way, he led his singing hordes of witches and wizards to the fortified palace of Governor Akpabio. Then and then, a white foreigner’s humanity challenged African’s. Then my tears flowed freely. Mary, holding high her banner, “We are not witches or wizards” locked gaze with God Akpabio on his Mount Olympia. Foxcroft, lapping the moment with humble pride, yes an oxymoron, kissed the little angel on his chest, as he watched and compared the absurdity of two Nigerians. Akpabio is a scion of Nigerians who are God, lordly, rich, aloof and powerful. Mary and the little witches and wizards are the other Nigerians who are despised, denied, denounced, detained and dehumanised.
God Akpabio’s, nay, African humanity shrivelled in shame. Foxcroft, an immigrant from a distant shore cuddled, caressed, nursed and laughed with his burdened ‘witches and wizards’ under the burning African sun while God Akpabio, surrounded by his aides, mumbled a belated promise and evaporated into his marble palace. He did not, for the timeless connection of grace between him and the kids touched nor smiled to any of the ‘children witches and wizards’ he was voted to look after.
What is going on in Akwa Ibom outraged my Christianity. I become a converted Christian in 1999 without any delusion that the faith has been massively infiltrated by anti-Christ masquerading as angels of light. Regardless of the sustained assaults against the cross of Christ, I remain unshakeable and deeply committed to a faith that has given me redemption from the pit of darkness. Hallelujah!!! At last, I can laugh with malnourished Mary who had never known laughter until meeting Gary Foxcroft. A baby doll did it for her
Taju Tijani contributes articles to NigerianMuse.
Source:
http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20081117063855zg/articles/angry-witches-and-wizards-confront-governor-akpabio
Court punishes chief over witchcraft
Court punishes chief over witchcraft
BY Mana
17:56:02 - 19 November 2008
Rumphi First Grade Magistrate court on Wednesday sentenced Village Headman Benson Mumba to pay K5,000 fine or in default serve 18 months imprisonment with hard labour for allowing a witchdoctor to conduct a prohibited witchcraft cleansing ceremony in his area.Mumba, 42, who comes from Malime Village, T/A Chikulamayembe in Rumphi District, has since paid the fine.The court learnt through Rumphi Police Station prosecutor Inspector Kingson Mwalughali who said that the village headman wrote two letters to traditional doctor Phillip Mzembe, a witch finder, inviting him to come and conduct witchcraft trials in the village.According to Mwalughali, Mumba invited the witch finder following wide spread reports that children in the village were being drilled in witchcraft acts by suspected witchcraft instructors.It was also reported that the children were being engaged in football matches at various grave yards where human heads were used as balls.The speculations further reported that many women in the village experienced nightmares where strange figures could make love to them without the women suspecting anything.These reports prompted the convicted village headman to invite the witch finder to cleanse the village of what he called evil men torturing innocent children.However, some children of Happy Nyasulu, one of the alleged witchcraft instructors, reported the matter to police, which lead to the arrest of the accused.Passing the sentence, Rumphi First Grade magistrate Antony Banda admitted that witchcraft exists, but “unfortunately the laws of Malawi do not recognize it.”“It’s true that witchcraft exists, but the laws of Malawi do not recognize it,” said Banda.He, therefore, said conducting witchcraft trials was prohibited as it contravenes chapter seven of the Witchcraft Act. The magistrate further advised chiefs, as custodians of the law, to master every part of the law and if they have difficulties in understanding it, should be referring such matters to relevant authorities.In mitigation, Mumba prayed for mercy saying he has a problematic leg. He did not elaborate.He further said he invited the witchdoctor for the good of his subjects.
Source:
http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11208
BY Mana
17:56:02 - 19 November 2008
Rumphi First Grade Magistrate court on Wednesday sentenced Village Headman Benson Mumba to pay K5,000 fine or in default serve 18 months imprisonment with hard labour for allowing a witchdoctor to conduct a prohibited witchcraft cleansing ceremony in his area.Mumba, 42, who comes from Malime Village, T/A Chikulamayembe in Rumphi District, has since paid the fine.The court learnt through Rumphi Police Station prosecutor Inspector Kingson Mwalughali who said that the village headman wrote two letters to traditional doctor Phillip Mzembe, a witch finder, inviting him to come and conduct witchcraft trials in the village.According to Mwalughali, Mumba invited the witch finder following wide spread reports that children in the village were being drilled in witchcraft acts by suspected witchcraft instructors.It was also reported that the children were being engaged in football matches at various grave yards where human heads were used as balls.The speculations further reported that many women in the village experienced nightmares where strange figures could make love to them without the women suspecting anything.These reports prompted the convicted village headman to invite the witch finder to cleanse the village of what he called evil men torturing innocent children.However, some children of Happy Nyasulu, one of the alleged witchcraft instructors, reported the matter to police, which lead to the arrest of the accused.Passing the sentence, Rumphi First Grade magistrate Antony Banda admitted that witchcraft exists, but “unfortunately the laws of Malawi do not recognize it.”“It’s true that witchcraft exists, but the laws of Malawi do not recognize it,” said Banda.He, therefore, said conducting witchcraft trials was prohibited as it contravenes chapter seven of the Witchcraft Act. The magistrate further advised chiefs, as custodians of the law, to master every part of the law and if they have difficulties in understanding it, should be referring such matters to relevant authorities.In mitigation, Mumba prayed for mercy saying he has a problematic leg. He did not elaborate.He further said he invited the witchdoctor for the good of his subjects.
Source:
http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11208
Lessons on witchcraft in Assam school!
Lessons on witchcraft in Assam school!
Wednesday, 19 November , 2008, 14:48Last Updated: Wednesday, 19 November , 2008, 15:58
Guwahati: Little children in Assam may soon learn lessons on witchcraft in school - to combat superstitious beliefs that lead to a large number of people being hounded to death in the northeast every year.
The idea of introducing lessons on 'dayan pratha' or witchcraft in primary school was mooted by the National Commission for Women (NCW).
"The idea behind introducing 'dayan pratha' in primary schools is to bring about awareness from an early age to do away with the primitive practice of witchhunting based on superstitious beliefs," Niva Konwar, NCW member, said.
At least 300 people have been killed by rural mobs in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Assam and Tripura. "Such gruesome killings have sent the very basis of human rights for a toss," said Birubala, an elderly Rabha tribal woman and a frontline rights campaigner.
Source:
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14801309
Wednesday, 19 November , 2008, 14:48Last Updated: Wednesday, 19 November , 2008, 15:58
Guwahati: Little children in Assam may soon learn lessons on witchcraft in school - to combat superstitious beliefs that lead to a large number of people being hounded to death in the northeast every year.
The idea of introducing lessons on 'dayan pratha' or witchcraft in primary school was mooted by the National Commission for Women (NCW).
"The idea behind introducing 'dayan pratha' in primary schools is to bring about awareness from an early age to do away with the primitive practice of witchhunting based on superstitious beliefs," Niva Konwar, NCW member, said.
At least 300 people have been killed by rural mobs in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Assam and Tripura. "Such gruesome killings have sent the very basis of human rights for a toss," said Birubala, an elderly Rabha tribal woman and a frontline rights campaigner.
Source:
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14801309
UFO sightings over Bucks County
LANGHORNE, Pa. - November 18, 2008- (WPVI) -- A conference planned for Bucks County is truly "out of this world!"
It comes in response to numerous reports of strange lights, high in the sky.
What were those things people saw hovering over the Sesame Place Amusement Park in Langhorne?
How about those boomerang shaped aircraft in the skies above Oxford Valley Mall?
There've been dozens of reports of UFO sightings in Bucks County over the past few months.
In fact, Action News was able to find an eyewtiness.
"It was the most bizarre looking thing, we both said 'What is that?'" said Susan Prager of Yardley, Pa. "We couldn't figure it out. We kept looking at it and looking at it. It definitely was a UFO."
Watch video at source
Source:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6513117
It comes in response to numerous reports of strange lights, high in the sky.
What were those things people saw hovering over the Sesame Place Amusement Park in Langhorne?
How about those boomerang shaped aircraft in the skies above Oxford Valley Mall?
There've been dozens of reports of UFO sightings in Bucks County over the past few months.
In fact, Action News was able to find an eyewtiness.
"It was the most bizarre looking thing, we both said 'What is that?'" said Susan Prager of Yardley, Pa. "We couldn't figure it out. We kept looking at it and looking at it. It definitely was a UFO."
Watch video at source
Source:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6513117
Four of family charged with practicing witchcraft, lynched
Four of family charged with practising witchcraft, lynched
June 10th, 2008 - 7:22 pm ICT by IANS -
Guwahati, June 10 (IANS) Four members of a family in India’s northeastern state of Assam were lynched by a mob that charged them with practising witchcraft, said a police official Tuesday. A police spokesman said the incident took place Monday at Milanpur village in Sonitpur district, about 230 km northeast of Assam’s main city Guwahati.
“A large mob armed with crude weapons attacked a family killing 65-year-old Lakhan Majhi, his wife, their son and daughter-in-law,” police official Saurav Saikia said on telephone.
The mob then buried the bodies in a pit on the outskirts of the village.
Locals in the area accused Majhi’s family of casting evil spells on a youth who died Saturday after a brief illness.
“This is nothing but killings due to superstition,” said Saikia.
No arrest has been made so far.
The police Tuesday exhumed the corpses and began investigation.
“After the police arrived in the village, all the male members fled and just a few women and girls were around,” another police official said.
At least 200 people were killed by mobs in the northeast over the past five years for allegedly practising witchcraft.
Superstition, black magic and demonology are integral to tribal customs in parts of Assam, Tripura and other northeastern states.
The Assam police have intensified an ongoing drive to curb this social crime.
Codenamed Project Prahari (Vigilant), the crusade includes community-policing measures, besides regular awareness campaigns among tribal chiefs and village elders.
The police campaign is now focusing on educating villagers and holding meetings in areas dominated by tribals.
“We need to bring about a change in attitude rather than trying to enforce the law. We have to create awareness about this social evil to stop such barbaric incidents from taking place,” Assam Inspector General of Police Kula Saikia told IANS.
Source:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/four-of-family-charged-with-practising-witchcraft-lynched_10058622.html
June 10th, 2008 - 7:22 pm ICT by IANS -
Guwahati, June 10 (IANS) Four members of a family in India’s northeastern state of Assam were lynched by a mob that charged them with practising witchcraft, said a police official Tuesday. A police spokesman said the incident took place Monday at Milanpur village in Sonitpur district, about 230 km northeast of Assam’s main city Guwahati.
“A large mob armed with crude weapons attacked a family killing 65-year-old Lakhan Majhi, his wife, their son and daughter-in-law,” police official Saurav Saikia said on telephone.
The mob then buried the bodies in a pit on the outskirts of the village.
Locals in the area accused Majhi’s family of casting evil spells on a youth who died Saturday after a brief illness.
“This is nothing but killings due to superstition,” said Saikia.
No arrest has been made so far.
The police Tuesday exhumed the corpses and began investigation.
“After the police arrived in the village, all the male members fled and just a few women and girls were around,” another police official said.
At least 200 people were killed by mobs in the northeast over the past five years for allegedly practising witchcraft.
Superstition, black magic and demonology are integral to tribal customs in parts of Assam, Tripura and other northeastern states.
The Assam police have intensified an ongoing drive to curb this social crime.
Codenamed Project Prahari (Vigilant), the crusade includes community-policing measures, besides regular awareness campaigns among tribal chiefs and village elders.
The police campaign is now focusing on educating villagers and holding meetings in areas dominated by tribals.
“We need to bring about a change in attitude rather than trying to enforce the law. We have to create awareness about this social evil to stop such barbaric incidents from taking place,” Assam Inspector General of Police Kula Saikia told IANS.
Source:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/four-of-family-charged-with-practising-witchcraft-lynched_10058622.html
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