Importing Witchcraft

We never know what we receive when we import a culture through immigration. We think of the intermingling of cultures, the enrichment of society by other features relating to various kinds of heritage and customs, because they are held to be exotic in their differences, and fascinating to behold, reflecting the vast differences in human experience and values.

The more obvious examples of colourful clothing, flavourful cuisines, folk tales, religious holidays, and social customs unlike those that are more familiar, fascinate people. And when the receiving society accepts that the immigrants are bringing with them a measure of fascinating and different backgrounds reflected in their beliefs and fond memories of ancestral customs, respect and often admiration are proffered.

For the most part, well deserved. People do learn that we have far more in common than what sets us apart. We do appreciate, for the most part, that our differences are those of cultural facade, and that all people wherever they are from, require the same assurances, of safety, security, comfort and opportunity.

But then, there are also the dark things that are revealed, that come to light when while within the culture that prides itself on being socially and culturally advanced, it may come face to face with one that is in some respects primitive in its devotion and practise. Those alternate practices often are shed, once removed from their place of origin. But not always.

In Britain incidents of quite horrible events linked as a "hidden crime" to imported beliefs in witchcraft have come to light. Where cultish-religious, and ancestral worship of voodoo or other types of witchcraft are secretly practised and revealed only by the incidence of dreadful physical abuse. It is considered to be an "under-reported, hidden crime".

Children's charities and campaigners are attempting to make some inroads into immigrant communities from various parts of Africa, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where instances of torture and death have been revealed, related to witchcraft. Where children are accused of having harboured evil spirits, and they are tortured to achieve a confession, or tortured and then murdered.

"The intelligence from the community is that it's far more prevalent than the reports we are getting", explained Detective Superintendent Terry Sharpe, the Metropolitan Police lead on Project Violet, a team tasked with tackling religion-based child abuse. Detectives assume from what they have experienced that many incidents go unreported.

It was revealed just recently that four siblings originally from the DRC had arrived in London from France to visit with their older sister and her boyfriend. The boyfriend accused the visitors of bringing kindoki, a form of witchcraft, into his house. The younger sisters were beaten, then escaped, after "confessing" that they were witches.

One of the two visiting brothers was held by his sister and her boyfriend to be evil, and he was tortured relentlessly, then released to death, which he welcomed to staunch his agony and pain at the hands of his sister and her boyfriend. He had been attacked with knives, sticks, metal bars, a hammer and chisel, retaining 130 separate injuries, until he "begged to die".

His sister and her boyfriend have been charged with murder. They have been sentenced to life in prison.