(SomaliNet) The Police in Kenya said on Monday that a centenarian woman was murdered in the Kenyan coastal town of Malindi by locals who suspected her of being a witch. "We are investigating the murder of an old woman who was aged 100 or more and was killed on allegations that she was practising witchcraft," Malindi police chief Gregory Waikwa said.
The Kenyan News Agency identified the victim as 111-year-old Yaa Gwalu. "We have received crucial clues and our officers are already looking for some young men said to have participated in the killing," Waikwa said.
Other elderly residents of the same area were attacked in recent days. "I am aware of the cases which we are blaming on what locals here are terming the war against witchcraft... There is no law that permits them to kill anyone on suspicion of any specific crime," Waikwa said.
Several women suspected of being witches were lynched and burnt alive in other parts of Kenya in 2008. Cases have also been reported in recent months in neighbouring Tanzania, forcing President Jakaya Kikwete to order special protection for albinos, who were murdered and mutilated for good luck by witch-doctors. |