Two women lynched in DR Congo over witchcraft claims

Congolese villagers lynched two women accused of witchcraft, adding to three people already killed for the same reason in the eastern Fizi area this year, a local official said on Monday.

The victims, one aged 58 and the other whose age is unknown, were accused of poisoning a mother of seven, said Fizi administrator Jean de Dieu Selemani.

They were lynched by family members of the dead woman, he said. 

“There have been a number of cases of mob justice in several villages in the territory of Fizi,” Selemani said, “despite the awareness campaigns we are doing to stop the population from taking justice into their own hands.” 

The five murders this year have involved three men and the two women, he said, adding that a week ago a 22-year-old man was burnt alive.