An African pastor was arrested in Britain on Thursday about allegations that he identified children as witches and encouraged their parents to beat them.
The unnamed churchman was detained at an address in south London on Thursday morning, hours after the allegations were made on BBC radio’s flagship Today programme.
In one case, a nine-year-old boy was said to have been burned with a steam iron and had chilli pepper rubbed in his eyes and mouth by his father after the pastor said he was possessed by evil spirits.
One man, an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was said to have killed himself after his wife and child were branded witches, the report said.
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said in a statement: ”Officers from the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation Command have arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of inciting child cruelty.
”His arrest at 11:55 this morning (11.55am GMT) at an address in south London followed information passed to us by the BBC. … He is in police custody and enquiries are ongoing.”
Officers are liaising with colleagues at social services, the Immigration Service, and health and education authorities, he added.
No details were released about where the pastor practised nor which country he came from, although there is understood to be a link to the DRC.
In the last five years, police in London have identified more than 30 cases of children being identified as witches and they fear that belief in ”ndoki”, or African black magic, is becoming more widespread.
In a high-profile court case in London in July last year, three people were jailed for between four and 10 years for torturing an eight-year-old girl after she was branded a witch. The child survived.
But in another case, also in the British capital, eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was tortured and killed in 2000 by her great-aunt and her boyfriend.
The pair, who were jailed for life the following year, had been told the youngster was possessed by evil spirits.
Officers in the capital were also alerted after the torso of a young African boy was found in the River Thames in 2001 following what experts believe was a ritualistic killing. – AFP
