Sorcellerie : émeute à Songea – 22 février 2012

4 die in clashes over Tanzania ‘witchcraft’

gulf-times.com

Thursday23/2/2012February

AFP/Dar es Salaam

Four people were killed in southern Tanzania in clashes between police and thousands of demonstrators angry at a spate of reported witchcraft killings, officials said yesterday.
Protesters in the clashes on Wednesday were angry at what they said was a lack of police action to hunt down the killers of four women murdered in the area last week, their genitals reportedly sliced off by their attackers.

“Two people died after police opened fire in an attempt to stop the crowd from destroying public property, while others were killed during a stampede,” said regional commissioner Said Mwambungu of the clashes in Songea town.

Regional police chief Michael Kamuhanda said police had blocked protestors from destroying local government buildings. While Mwambungu said the deaths of the women were associated with witchcraft, Kamuhanda dismissed the claims, saying the killings were cases of ordinary murder. Kamuhanda urged people to remain calm while police continued their investigations. Read more…