Just days before Halloween, news reports of satanic rituals are making global headlines.
In what police suspect was part of a satanic ritual, an 18-year-old girl was burned alive in South Africa’s Johannesburg park.
Now in a coma, 75 percent of Kirsty Theologo’s body was burned in the incident. Her lungs and throat were damaged, according to a report in The Star newspaper.
One boy cut the burning girl’s hand and held it over a Bible so the blood could soak it, the paper reported. Another girl tried to put out the flames by rolling Theologo in the sand and sustained burns that landed her in the hospital.
The four men turned themselves in to police and are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in Britain, authorities rescued at least 400 African children who were brought to the country often for use in blood rituals conducted by witch doctors, according to a report in the BBC earlier this month. The report cited a cultural belief in the power of human blood in so-called juju rituals.
“Our experience tells us that traffickers can be anybody. They can be people with power, people with money or people involved in witchcraft,” Christine Beddoe, director of the anti-trafficking charity Epcat U.K., told the BBC. “Trafficking can involve witch doctors and other types of professionals in the community who are using those practices.”
