He was tortured before being drowned in the bath in an attempt to exorcise him of the devil. Visiting churches in the DRC, Kanda found children accused of witchcraft because they were disabled, wet the bed or suffered nightmares.
She found that families put toddlers believed to be possessed through painful rituals to rid them of their kindoki.
I'm shocked to witness the pastors going down a line of children picking out those they suspect of having kindoki, or witchcraft," she said. But the approach must be this, and this is the VCF's position, no culture or religion must be allowed to override the protection of that child. Sharpe added: "As far as I'm concerned we must not hide behind [fears of racism accusations] — child abuse is child abuse.
The Ivory Coast-born girl was burned with cigarettes and forced to sleep in a sealed garbage bag in the bath until she eventually died. Another high-profile case in London was that of year-old Kristy Bamu, who was drowned in the bath on Christmas Day by his Congo-born sister and her boyfriend who claimed he was possessed.
These cases were key in bringing the faith-based abuse into the public consciousness. But Sharpe is adamant that police will not wait for another brutal slaying to ramp up their response. Kanda is optimistic that "it's a problem that can be dealt with, but it's not a solution that's going to come today or tomorrow. She added: "What has happened to me has not happened in vain.
I have a platform to tell people my story so we can work together to do something about it. IE 11 is not supported. Kanda visited two young children who'd been doused in petrol and set on fire by their aunt, after an older sister fell ill.
True believers do, which is why some of their beliefs deserve nothing but contempt. All very well to campaign for non-violent responses to kindoki, as three young Congolese men were shown doing here through consciousness-raising theatre. But the fact that all three thought kindoki was real was dismaying. Sorry, guys, but your spirituous beliefs are dangerous nonsense.
My hackles go up when I see the word "secret" in a programme title and they were right to with The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars , a history programme about a story so secret that it's actually been the subject of a global best seller, Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong.
Still, credit where it's due, Peter Barton did namecheck Faulks's book and his film about the tunnelling war at the Somme proved to be gripping location history.
The number of cases of religious or ritualistic abuse of children reported to Scotland Yard has increased year-on-year over the past 10 years. In a total of 24 were passed to the force. Since , cases have been referred to the Met. Two of 27 such cases that were referred to the Metropolitan police involved children who claimed they were raped in attacks linked to witchcraft.
In recent years, the referrals have come mainly from the African Christian churches, he said, but they could involve other cultures and faith communities. In one case, a year-old from Paris who was visiting relatives in London , was murdered in horrific circumstances, after his sister and her boyfriend became convinced he was possessed by kindoki or evil spirits. Police officers on Wednesday met teachers, child care personnel, health workers and faith leaders at City Hall, London, to discuss how to tackle the crime.
Sharpe, attending the conference, which aimed to raise awareness of the crime, said he was particularly concerned with the associated escalating violence.
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