Women found guilty in ''witchcraft'' case
Posted on Saturday, June 04 @ 09:25:47 EDT by SweenyTod
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LONDON (Reuters) - A British court found two African women guilty of child abuse on Friday after hearing how one of them beat a schoolgirl with a high-heeled shoe and rubbed chilli pepper in her eyes because she believed she was a witch.
The two women stuffed the 8-year-old into a large laundry bag and threatened to throw her in to a London canal, a court at London's Old Bailey heard.
The girl was only saved by the intervention of a man who claimed to be her uncle, who warned the women they would go to jail if they were found out.
The girl, now aged 10, was born in Angola and, after her parents died, was brought to Britain in 2002 by a woman who claimed to be her mother.
The woman took the girl with her to live in London with another woman who said she was the girl's aunt.
The aunt, Sita Kisanga, became convinced the girl was a witch and subjected her to months of abuse. She starved her, cut her with a knife, beat her and rubbed pepper in her eyes to exorcise her of evil spirits.
The two women hatched a plan to drown her but backed down out of fear of being caught, the court heard.
Judge Christopher Moss cleared the women of conspiracy to murder but found Kisanga guilty of child cruelty. He found the other woman and the uncle guilty of aiding and abetting child cruelty.
The judge warned the women they would face "a lengthy time in prison" when he passes sentence on July 8.
The girl is now living in a children's care home.
Read the full story here.
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