PHOTOS: woman savagely beaten by her ex-husband

Ruth Gakii (pictured on the right) was reportedly savagely beaten by her ex-husband (pictured on the left) and father of her 3-year-old son on Wednesday, October 21. The woman is now receiving treatment at the Nairobi Women’s hospital, Kenya. 

The Linda Ikeji Blog reports that the ex, Alphose Kambua, a computer Programmer, has been reported to police for assaulting Ruth but hasn't been arrested. Women’s rights activists have threatened to take to the streets if Kambu, who is said to enjoy diplomatic immunity, is not arrested and charged.

MAIDUGURI: Four female suicide bombers die in a failed bombing attempt

Barely 24 hours after 55 people were reportedly killed in suicide bombings in Borno and Adamawa states, four Female suicide bombers in a failed attempt to bomb Dala Yazaram community, Maiduguri have lost their lives.

Eyewitnesses say four female suicide bombers made an attempt to attack the area but one of them was arrested before she detonated the bomb on her. She later died. “Three people have been killed and many injured. 

One of the terrorists was arrested before she could detonate,” resident Shuaibu Umara, a security guard at a nearby NNPC petrol station, told AFP.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Four women accused of sorcery burnt alive

A footage showing four women accused of witchcraft being stripped, tortured, tied and burnt alive by an angry mob in Papua New Guinea. The women were accused of sorcery after a young man fell ill in a village in Enga province in August. Media posts said the women were accused of “invisibly” taking the man’s heart, and then putting it back after they were tortured. In their attackers’ eyes this would also prove their guilt as sorcerers.
The footage showed the women being prodded and threatened with machetes while being questioned by a group of men.


According to the translation the women deny having done anything, and plead with their attackers.
The woman begs: "My son, stop it!” says one woman, laying on the ground.
“Talk out, where did you put it?” comes the reply. “Burn her with the wire.”
“I’ve got nothing to do with it,” says another woman. “I am a mother with five children.”

The attackers ignored their pleas and one was heard saying: "Don't just hit her, burn her." The video was initially shared on social media by students, who, according to one source, did it to show they approved of the torturers' actions.

Social media posts said the women were accused of “invisibly” taking the man’s heart, and then putting it back after they were tortured. In their attackers’ eyes this would also prove their guilt as sorcerers.

“There’s no real way they can prove themselves innocent,” one PNG source who has been involved in rescues of victims of sorcery-related violence, told Guardian Australia. “Once they’re suspected they’re basically done for, they’ll be tortured and maybe killed as well.”

He said he was aware of many people sharing the video on their smart phones, including high school students, and said it was not out of horror but rather approval for the actions being taken against the four accused women.

“There’s no logic going on in the matter … To try to talk logically, even to students, doesn’t really get you very far. They say, we have evidence and you ask what kind of evidence and they say it’s invisible evidence you can’t see it,” he said.

“It’s hard to argue against that.”

see more pictures after the cut

"The PNG Government has approved a National Action Plan against Sorcery Accusation Violence. Now it must be implemented effectively and as soon as possible by everyone concerned including police, the legal system, health, education, NGOs, community leaders and the churches."

The incident is just one of numerous acts of violence or death related to accusations of sorcery. Anger is increasing among Papua New Guineans as the attackers go unpunished. 

11 year-old raped to death: 5 months after, family yet to receive corpse

Its been over five months since 11-year-old girl Anurika Nathan was raped to death; still her remains are yet to be released to her family for a proper burial. The deceased who was a native of Owo-Ahia Afor, Obingwa Local Government Area, Abia State, was allegedly raped to death by her guardian, and her parents are worried that her corpse had not been released for burial long after autopsy was concluded on it.

According to reports by The Nation, Anurika, the last female child of Mr. Chinenye Nathan, a civil servant in Abia State, occurred in the house of her guardian for whom she was working as a house help before her untimely death. The man  had allegedly rushed Anurika to a private hospital in Umuahia after she went into coma, but the hospital referred her to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia for urgent attention. It was learnt, however, that the girl died before they could get to the medical centre and her body was deposited in the hospital’s morgue.

Sources in Owo-Ahia Afor said that Anurika’s family members were pained by the death of their daughter who had been sent to the ASOPADEC commissioner’s house to serve as a house help and also further her education. A family source told our correspondent that they were yet to be shown the result of the autopsy, adding: “We are sure that the man abused our daughter, because at the FMC, blood was rushing out from her private part. She also sustained injuries on her legs.

The source, who said the police were already investigating the matter, also accused the police of trying to sweep the matter under the carpet owing to the influence of the commissioner in the state. He was allegedly bragging that he had the wherewithal to influence police investigation against the poor economic status of the victim’s family.

The immediate past governor of the state, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, had through the then Commissioner for Information, Anthony Agbazuere, addressed a press conference where he disclosed that the state had placed the errant official on interdiction because of the heinous nature of the allegation against him, pending the determination of his case by the police and the courts, adding that Sec...see more