Pro-Life News

Fears of Witchcraft Lead to Widespread Infanticide in Remote North Africa

KOUANDE -- Unless a baby is born head first and face upwards, many communities in northern Benin believe the child is a witch or sorcerer. And tradition demands that the infant must be killed, sometimes by dashing its brains out against a tree trunk. In the eyes of the Baatonou, Boko and Peul people, a child whose birth and early development deviates in any way from the accepted norm is cursed and must be destroyed. If the parents are compassionate, the baby is simply abandoned to die in the bush or be found and rescued by a charitable soul. Posted by Editor at July 19, 2005 07:06 AM