In the rural districts of Uganda, strangers making false promises of sweet treats, money or jobs, are luring children to their death. Abductions are at the hands of a traditional healer, otherwise called a witch doctor, with the intention of human sacrifice.
The practice of ritual mutilations and murder by witchdoctors is on the rise, with cases of children disappearing—as they walk to and from school, fetching water from communal wells, or simply playing with their friends by the sugarcane and corn fields.
A beneficiary goes to a witchdoctor, who consults the spirits and learns what sacrifice or offering is needed for the recipient to achieve his desires. Often times these sacrifices are chickens or goats, but some wishes of wealth and power require greater payment.
What results are decapitated, disfigured and discarded bodies of young boys and girls.
In a village of less than 3,000, there have been over 10 cases of child abduction and three of them have been for child sacrifice.
As long as the ritual has its believers, the practice cannot be put to a stop.
