Suspected penis snatcher beaten to death
( 2003-10-13 14:00) (Agencies)
A 28-year-old man accused of stealing a man's penis through sorcery was
beaten to death in the West African country of Gambia, police said.
A police spokesman told Reuters that Baba Jallow was killed Thursday by about
10 people in the town of Serekunda, nine miles from the capital Banjul.
Reports of penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, with purported
victims claiming that alleged sorcerers simply touched them to make their
genitals shrink or disappear in order to extort cash in the promise of a
cure.
The police spokesman said many men in Serekunda were now afraid to shake
hands, and he urged people not to believe reports of "vanishing" genitals.
Belief in sorcery is widespread in West Africa.
Seven alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs in Ghana in
1997.
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