As if the country of Haiti didn’t have enough problems, police report that throngs of Haitians fearing a cholera epidemic have murdered those whom they accused of trying to spread the disease, including through witchcraft.
According to one police inspector,
”A dozen people accused of importing cholera to a region that so far has been spared were killed with machetes and stones and their corpses were burned in the streets.
Prosecutor, Kesner Numa says many of them were killed because they were believed to be using black magic to spread the disease.
”These people are accused of witchcraft related to cholera. The attackers believed the victims were trying to ”plant a substance that spreads the disease in the region.”
According to Numa the first lynching case took place last week and since then an incident has occurred every day.
Six people were butchered or stoned to death in the town of Chambellan and five others in Marfranc and Dame Marie, according to reports.
”They really believe that witches are taking advantage of the cholera epidemic to kill, says Numa,” even to the point of some residents refusing to co-operate with investigations into the killings.
It was not immediately clear if any of the victims had cholera.
Voodoo is a very widespread practice in Haiti and half of Haiti’s population is believed to practice some form of the voodoo religion.
The cholera epidemic has killed 1,817 people in Haiti since mid-October.
