Swazi ritual murder
NZPAReuter Mbabane A man who sold his seven-year-old nephew to be ritually murdered in return for a cow has been sentenced by the Swazi High Court to be hanged. Judge Ben Dunn said that the uncle, Mjoniseni Mkhabela, had led the boy “like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter.” The Court was told that the boy had been drowned in a northern Swaziland river and his body mutilated for ritual puposes. Some African witch doctors believe that human flesh gives them greater powers. Mkhabela told the Court he did not approve of the killing but would have been expelled from his village unless he agreed. “I could have saved that boy, but I had no power left. The entire homestead was bewitched,” he testified.
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Press, 5 December 1985, Page 55
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127Swazi ritual murder Press, 5 December 1985, Page 55
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