Muti Murders Essay

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MUTI KILLINGS AND RITUAL MURDERS On September 21st 2001 the mutilated body of which was believed to be that of a South African juvenile, was found floating in the River Thames in London. Despite extensive DNA tests, searches though missing children databases, the police had no idea who the boy was, so named him ‘Adam’. Detectives at Scotland Yard believed the remains to be a result of a ritual murder, however in order to obtain a confirmed cause of death, detectives went to South Africa in order to consult an and hire Credo Mutwa who is a well known powerful Sangoma (traditional healer). After reading the case files, Mutwa was able to confirm that ‘Adam’ was a victim of human sacrifice which would have been carried out by a tribe known as Yoruba who are well known for practicing very black magic in Nigeria. Detectives also consulted with Richard Hoskins (2012) an expert on African religion and Voodoo who also revealed that the young victim actually killed in a Muti style killing or medicine murder as it is more commonly known in South Africa. During the autopsy, traces of a Calabar bean among other things were found in the stomach of the torso. Richard Hoskins believed that the young boy had been given the toxic plant in order to paralyse him prior to Muti being performed on him. A further expert in the field a Dr Hendricke Scholtz who also agreed with previous experts that the wounds inflicted upon ‘Adam’ “are consistent with those of a ritual homicide as practiced in Africa” (Scholtz cited in Chang 2008) The word Muti originates from the Zulu word Umuthi which is generally used when referring to tree roots and plants. Umuthi is a general term used during the preparation of medicinal potions and ointments used by herbalists to ease some ones pain or treat an illness. However, there are some witch doctors and Sangomas (traditional healers) that have an innate

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