The Malleus Maleficarum Series

Village 'witches' beaten in India.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8315980.stm

20 Oct 2009

Five women were paraded naked, beaten and forced to eat human excrement by villagers after being branded as witches in India's Jharkhand state. Local police said the victims were Muslim widows who had been labeled as witches by a local cleric. Correspondents say the abuse of women who are branded as witches is common, but rare footage of the incident has caused outrage across India. Footage of the incident has been aired on television channels in India prompting outrage. Hundreds of people, mostly women, have been killed in India because their neighbors thought they were witches. Experts say superstitious beliefs are behind some of these attacks, but there are occasions when people - especially widows - are targeted for their land and property.

Horror of Kenya’s ‘witch’ Lynchings

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8119201.stm

26 Jun 2009

A horrific practice which appears to be on the increase in Kenya - the lynching of people accused of being witches. I personally saw the burning alive of five elderly men and women. Not one person was protesting or trying to stop the killing. Village youths who took part in the killings told me that the five victims had to die because they had bewitched a young boy. "Of course some people have been burned. But there is proof of witchcraft," said one youth.