/ 28 April 1999

‘WITCHES’ BURNED

VILLAGERS have burnt to death four women they accused of being witches, police in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province said on Monday. The villagers allegedly herded the women into a traditional thatch-roofed hut on Sunday in the rural Thabankulu area near Mount Ayliff and doused the hut with petrol before setting it alight, police said.The women, aged between 64 and 71, burned to death. The villagers apparently accused them of causing the death of a young man who was shot dead a few weeks ago.Some 62 people have been arrested in connection with the incident.In the deeply traditional area, many people are superstitious. Older women particularly, are accused of being witches, sometimes after a tragedy in their community.