Tuesday, February 17, 2015
By Lindsay Johns for the Daily Mail
Updated: 13:41 GMT, 6 March 2012
The stomach-churning details of the barbaric, protracted torture and ensuing murder of French Congolese 15 year old boy Kristy Bamu by his elder sister and her fiancé who believed him to be a witch in East London in December 2010 left me both utterly sickened and livid. Thank goodness Magalie Bamu and her boyfriend Eric Bikubi were jailed for a total of fifty five years yesterday at the Old Bailey for the murder.
The litany of horrendous physical abuse that teenager Kristy suffered at the hands of his tormentors (he had 130 separate injuries) was so severe that he apparently “begged to die.” The unimaginable horror of the way the young boy’s life ended – he was attacked with knives, sticks, metal bars and a hammer and chisel before being drowned – defies sane and rational comprehension.
Judge David Paget eloquently said, “The belief in witchcraft, however genuine, cannot excuse an assault to another person, let alone the killing of another human being.”
Victim: 15-year-old Kristy Bamu, pictured left with a friend, suffered 130 injuries after being hit with an arsenal of weapons including broken ceramic floor tiles 
Judge David Paget QC said Bamu must have realised her sibling was going to die in an attack that 'surpassed belief' This sheer and seemingly senseless brutality of this case has left an indelible scar on many people’s psyche. Yet tragically it seems that this is an increasingly prevalent, albeit marginalized, unreported and thus “hidden” social phenomenon in this country. The case of Victoria Climbié, the five year old who died after being tortured in Haringey, North London in 2000, was linked to a belief in spirit possession, as was the case of the decapitated torso “Adam” which was found floating in the Thames in 2001. More and more cases of African faith-related child abuse are now coming to light. Many are the churches in some boroughs of London which carry out exorcisms and “deliverance” ceremonies of “possessed children.”
African witchcraft – be it juju (from Nigeria), muti (from South Africa) or kindoki (from the Congo) is a fundamentally primitive belief. The increasingly well-documented ritualistic abuse and murder of African children, both in Africa and now in London as a direct result of these depraved beliefs is appalling and unsettles both the heart and the mind. To think that these murders took place in London, an ostensibly civilized, first world city, is more than shocking. It is downright disgusting.
The belief system that led to this despicable waste of human life not only needs challenging, but combating with a committed urgency. Parents need to be educated against such practices. Moreover, social services, local authorities and the police need tangible assistance to tackle child abuse related to witchcraft.
We should tacitly tolerate this no longer. We must make it clear in strident terms that faith-related child abuse (and of course, child abuse per se) has no place in this country, nor in the modern world. We must raise awareness of this nefarious phenomenon and strive to ensure that more innocent children do not suffer as a result of such hideously antediluvian and grotesque beliefs.
The French Renaissance humanist Montaigne was a very erudite and learned man, who wrote a fine essay On Cannibals, in which he espoused a doctrine of cultural relativism. Sadly, when it comes to Britain in 2012, I am not that erudite, or for that matter, learned. From what I can see, I do not believe that all cultural customs are of equal merit or have equal degrees of civility or respect for human life attached to them, or even deserve a place in the modern world. I’m sorry. There can be no culturally relativist approach here. This is barbarism pure and simple. This is child abuse of the highest and most sickening order. What’s even worse is that it was done (and therefore sanctioned) in the name of God.
I am increasing coming to despair of our achingly politically correct society’s “softly, softly” approach to these matters which tells us that certain cultural practices, for example, female genital mutilation, forced marriage or in this case witchcraft, are as civilized as others and that we should automatically respect these different cultural values. Irrespective of this country’s (at times) unbelievable level of tolerance, this particular cultural and religious belief’s flagrant disregard for the sanctity of human life and the intrinsic dignity which must be afforded to every human being needs stamping out now.
In court: Kelly Bamu, pictured on the witness stand, said Kristy asked for forgiveness. 'He asked again and again,' she said, adding 'Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn't give a damn' For those who might be tempted to erroneously think that this is a racial issue, as opposed to a cultural one, witchcraft and the drowning and burning of suspected witches (with equally barbaric methods and levels of cruelty, I hasten to add) was rife in England, much of Europe and North America for many decades, if not centuries (albeit some 400 years ago). Class, culture, religion and the manipulative, greedy charlatans who exploit the gullible and uneducated for money and power are the true culprits here, not race.
One can only hope that by dint of increased education, enlightenment and guidance, people of all cultural backgrounds and practices will come to see that such risible belief systems which propagate incredibly harmful, nay murderous nonsense against children in the guise of religious truth, are vicious and quite literally destroy lives, as opposed to save them.
Until then, how many more innocent children will be abused, or even worse, murdered at the hands of evil zealots who believe in witchcraft and spirit possession?
For more information about Africans Unite Against Child Abuse – a charity working to promote the rights and welfare of African children in the UK by combating abuse, trafficking and witchcraft, see www.afruca.org
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