50 killed in anti-sorcery rituals after being forced to drink "mysterious liquid," Angola officials say

CBS/AFP

March 14, 2024 

About 50 people have died in Angola after being forced to drink an herbal potion to prove they were not sorcerers, police and local officials said Thursday. The deaths occurred between January and February near the central town of Camacupa, according to Luzia Filemone, a local councilor.

Police confirmed that 50 people had died.  

Speaking to Angola National Radio broadcaster, Filemone accused traditional healers of administering the deadly concoction.

"More than 50 victims were forced to drink this mysterious liquid which, according to traditional healers, proves whether or not a person practices witchcraft," she said.

Belief in witchcraft is still common in some rural Angolan communities despite strong opposition from the church in the predominantly Catholic former Portuguese colony.

"It's a widespread practice to make people drink the supposed poison because of the belief in witchcraft," provincial police spokesperson Antonio Hossi told the radio network, warning that cases were on the rise.

Angola does not have laws against witchcraft, leaving communities to deal with the issue as they see fit.

Allegations of sorcery are often settled by traditional healers, or "marabouts," by having the accused ingest a toxic herbal drink called "Mbulungo." Death is believed by many to prove guilt.

Last year, Bishop Firmino David of Sumbe Diocese in Angola told ACI Africa that socio-economic challenges in the country are forcing some to "resort to the practice of witchcraft because they believe that with witchcraft, they can get what they want and thus free themselves from poverty and get everything they need to survive."

Firmino encouraged his fellow Angolans "to help rescue people who try to make a living from practices that are harmful to society, including witchcraft and drugs."

During a 2009 trip to Angola, Pope Benedict urged Catholics to shun witchcraft and sorcery.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-dead-anti-sorcery-rituals-mysterious-liquid-angola-officials/

Angola jails Christian sect members for up to 28 years over police murders

Reuters
April  5, 2016

HUAMBO (Reuters) - An Angolan court on Tuesday sentenced the leader of a Christian sect and some of his followers to up to 28 years in jail for the killing of nine police officers last year during a police raid on the group.

The raids ended with the capture of preacher Jose Kalupeteka, leader of a millenarian sect called "The Light of the World", and his followers a year ago. Thirteen sect members were also killed in clashes, police said.

On Tuesday, provincial court judge Afonso Pinto sentenced Kalupeteka and nine sect members to between 16 and 28 years in jail after their trial on charges including murder, attempted murder, resistance to police detention, illegal possession of weapons and damage to property.

Defense lawyers later told journalists they would appeal against the sentences at the Supreme Court.

Angola launched last year's raids to crack down on fringe Christian church groups deemed illegal under new rules requiring denominations to have 100,000 registered members spread across at least a third of the southern African country's 18 provinces.

Kalupeteka's church has an estimated 3,000 members.

The Angolan opposition party UNITA has said that more than 1,000 sect members were killed during clashes with police last year.

(Reporting by Herculano Coroado; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Mark Heinrich)


http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0X22EY

Angolan sect leader goes on trial for police killings

24News
January 17, 2016

Johannesburg - Angolan Christian sect leader Julino Kalupeteca goes on trial on Monday for the murder of nine police officers during a security forces operation to arrest him which, according to the opposition, turned into a "massacre".

Angola's opposition party Unita said that more than 1 000 people were killed in the April 2015 police operation against Kalupeteca's Seventh Day Light of the World Church, though authorities insisted only 22 people died - 13 civilians and nine police officers.

Clashes broke out as sect members unsuccessfully tried to thwart the arrest of their leader during the raid in a mountainous area of the central Huambo region where Kalupeteca lived with 3 000 followers.

After the incident, authorities blocked access to the remote area and neither death toll was ever independently verified.

Police deny the huge casualty figure and have challenged Unita to back up its claims with evidence.

The sect, which predicted the end of the world in 2015 and encourages its followers to live in seclusion, is a dissident branch of the Seventh Day Adventist Church with 3 700 followers in Angola, according to local news agency ANGOP.

Kalupeteca, 54, is due to stand trial alongside a dozen of his followers. Several members of the sect have already been convicted of murder over the incident, including a young man who was sentenced to 20 years' jail last week.

The trial will be held in Huambo, the provincial capital of the region of the same name.

While the Angolan state officially recognises 83 Christian churches, there exist nearly 1 200 other religious organisations, including many cults, according to the culture ministry.