14 held after 'ritual murder'
2009-01-20 08:00
Freetown - Fourteen people, including several tribal chiefs, have been arrested in connection with an alleged ritual murder of a young woman in southern Sierra Leone, authorities said on Monday.
"The government has given the police the support to crack down on those responsible and bring them to justice," Resident Minister in charge of the Southern Province Musa Tarawalli said.
"The number arrested by the police in the investigation is now 14," he added.
According to police, the body of a young woman was found last week in Gbangbatoke, Moyamba District, in the south. The corpse was missing its heart, tongue, breasts and sexual organs.
"We believe this is a ritual murder and we are investigating," a senior police official linked with the probe told AFP.
Observers say ritual murders and cannibalism are rampant in the west African country and usually occur before key elections. Those who carry out the gruesome acts believe that killing their victims, particularly virgins and children, will give them mystical powers.
"Between 1992 to 2007 ritual murders became so rampant because politicians interfered with investigations and prosecutions of the crime," minister Tarawalli said Monday.
"Now, the President is determined to crack down on those responsible and bring them to justice," he added.
Sierra Leone is recovering from a bloody 1991-2002 civil war, in which an estimated 120 000 people were killed and thousands more mutilated.
Since the 1960s, several people have been sentenced and executed for ritual murder and cannibalism.