Old women in DR Congo being killed over witchcraft

KAMPALA, Uganda

Old women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are killed on allegations that they practice witchcraft.

A 67-year-old woman was beaten into a coma on allegations of being involved in witchcraft.

Monica Muviya was reportedly attacked at her home in the Kali village of the South Kivu province by a group of youth who beat her until when she collapsed into a coma.

Her daughter Annet Tabu said: "Our mother has been beaten seriously by a group of people who claim that she practices witchcraft. They left, thinking she had died. We then took her to her brother's home two miles away to treat her."

A security officer in South Kivu, Lt. Keneth Longwa said it has become common in that area for young people to kill old women claiming that they practice witchcraft. He noted: "We are going to carry out investigations and arrest all those involved."

UN radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo reported Monday that the Association of Media Women of South Kivu recorded more than 320 cases of women accused of witchcraft in South Kivu between June and September this year.

It said: "This translates, according to this association, to a new mode of violence against women which is growing in several territories of the province. Elderly women are accused of being witches, humiliated, and lynched to death by young people."

The accusers are the young people of the village under the influence of the so-called "Mujakaji" system of a woman prophetess, who often attributes the death of a member of the village to the action of sorcerers.

The Association of Media Women noted that in the territory of Kalehe in South Kivu alone, 114 cases have been recorded, including five women humiliated and burned alive. Others, accused of being witches, were taken to an unknown destination by some members of the militia group Raia Mutomboki.

This association has been asking authorities to take measures to stop this growing situation.