CHILD ABUSE CASES LINKED TO WITCHCRAFT AND BLACK MAGIC HAVE RISEN BY MORE THAN A THIRD IN ENGLAND

Startling new data has come out of England, showing that unorthodox faith practices — such as black magic and witchcraft — are contributing to an increase in child abuse in the country.

According to The Guardian, official data from the Department for Education showed child protection cases based on faith or belief are up by a third in the last year in England, reaching nearly 2,000 cases. That equates to roughly 38 child abuse cases linked to faith or belief per week.

The data also showed the number of children believed to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) reached up to 1,000 cases in the past year – a record high based on social work assessments.

In child abuse cases linked to extreme faith or belief, council workers usually find abuse and harm performed under the guise of said beliefs, such as exorcising an evil spirit believed to be lurking inside the child.

A number of high-profile cases of child abuse involving extreme faith or belief practices have cropped up in the last two decades.

Perhaps most infamous was the 2000 case of eight-year-old Victoria Climbié, who was murdered by her great aunt, who claimed that the little girl was possessed by the devil.

The circumstances surrounding her tragic death led to a high-profile inquiry into the country’s child protective services, which were found to have had multiple opportunities to intervene in the abuse. As for the great aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao showed little to no remorse for her brutal crime.

“I am a pure innocent person in prison. No one wants to know the truth… I am not horrible. God is witness about this. That is why I stopped believing in God,” Kouao said during a bizarre appearance in the inquiry after her murder conviction.

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