SIXTY SENTENCED TO DIE

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6835, 16 April 1932, Page 5

SIXTY SENTENCED TO DIE

NATIVES KILL “WITCH” The most sensational murder trial in the history of Kenya concluded recently, when sentence of death was passed on 60 natives of the Akamba tribe for killing an old woman whom they believed to be a witch. The wife of one of the accused men fell ill some time ago, and the husband, believing that she had been bewitched because she was unable to speak, called together a band of young natives numbering 70. A hunt was organised for the witch and the old woman was caught. The unfortunate woman was carried by her captors to the invalid woman’s house, where they ordered her to remove the spell which they said she had cast on her. After a long interval the wife showed signs of recovering from her maiady, but the husband, rushing in and finding that his wife was only just able to articulate, declared that the witch had only partially removed the spell. The old woman then attempted to escape, and an exciting chase ensued, the whole crowd of natives pursuing her and beating her. to death with thin sticks, according to the custom of the Akamba tribe. The mutilated body of the old woman was left lying on the ground for hyenas to devour. The Chief Justice declared that he had no alternative but to find the sixty natives guilty of murder, but he recommended them to the Governor’s clemency.