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Child sacrifice numbers rise

Child sacrifice, an ancient practice upheld by witch doctors, has had a resurgence in Uganda over the past three years.

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Source: SBS, BBC


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Child sacrifice, an ancient practice upheld by witch doctors, has had a resurgence in Uganda over the past three years.

The spate of horrific rituals has coincided with the boom in Uganda's economy, with many believing the root cause is a portion of the nation's elite.

It is widely suspected that members of the Uganda upper-class are paying witch doctors to perform the act, in the hopes that it will bring them greater wealth and good health.

BBC reporter Chris Rogers posed as a business man looking to bring success to his construction project in order to meet with a witch doctor.

"There are two ways of doing this. We can bury the child alive at your construction site or we can cut the child and put their blood in bottle of spiritual medicine," the witch doctor, identified only as Awali, said.

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"If it's a male the whole head is cut off . . . and his genitals. We will dig a hole at your construction site and bury the feet and the hands."

Uganda has formed a special police taskforce to tackle the problem but families complain of corruption and slow investigations.

Official police figures show 38 children have been victims of sacrifice since 2006; a number based solely on conclusive investigations. Charities complain 900 cases remain outstanding.

Jubilee Campaign has been set up by locals in an attempt to lobby the government for stricter regulation of witch doctors and to better resource police.

"The children have no voices and their voices have been silenced by the law, by the police which is not acting, by people who read the papers and do nothing. So we have to stand, whatever it takes, to fight this evil," said Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga of Jubilee Campaign.


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