Nalerigu: Police probe alleged lynching of woman accused of ‘witchcraft’

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Villagers in the rural part of the North East Region of Ghana have allegedly killed a 75-year-old woman who has been accused of practicing witchcraft.

The body of Madam Tiyata Achiri, was found at about 7:00 pm Saturday, December 4, according to the police in the North East Region.

She was rushed to the Baptist Medical Center at Nalerigu for treatment but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Resident account

A resident told Citi News that her assailants beat her with sticks and canes as he narrates it was not the first time she had suffered such an attack.

“Those who beat up the woman claimed she was a witch from Janga [another community in the area]”, the resident identified as Jonathan Nabila said in an interview with the Accra-based radio station.

“They beat her there [ at Janga] then she came to Nalerigu and settled here two years ago. The youth followed up and came here to Nalerigu and beat her to death”, the resident added.

No evidence

A murder investigation has however been opened, according to police spokesperson, ASP Robert Anabiik but says evidence of her being lynched was yet to be established.

“We are treating it as a murder case of which we are investigating to find out the people who committed that act”, the police spokesperson said.

Similar attacks

Belief in witchcraft remains widespread in some parts of Ghana.In some cases women are lynched, stripped naked as punishment or driven from their homes.

In April this year, some residents of Nakpali in the Zabzugu District of the Northern Region burned the property of a 68-year-old woman they accused of being a witch.

The witchcraft accusations dominated news cycles in August 2020 after 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the Savannah Region was lynched on camera because of claims she was a witch.

At the time, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, was criticised for not doing enough to protect elderly women from violence associated with witchcraft allegations.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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