Murder by magic

Five children have been murdered by their father in the belief that their deaths would endow him with magical powers near the town of Hala. It is reported that he is a drug addict who had financial problems; and was pursuing a course in black magic that had been prescribed to him. He is being hunted by the police. His family members say that he tried to sedate his children several days before the incident on January 8, with his wife and eldest son leaving the house after a bitter argument. This is not the first time that children have been killed or mutilated in pursuit of acquiring ‘magical’ powers, and is unlikely to be the last.

Belief in witchcraft, sorcery, demonic possession and exorcism and the casting of spells by magical amulets or fetishes is widespread in Pakistan and not limited to underdeveloped or ‘backward’ rural areas. These beliefs and rituals often predate Islam and the Abrahamic faiths generally, being recorded in antiquity, and are highly resistant to being stamped out, often despite the best efforts of well-intentioned official bodies the world over. These beliefs persist in the developed world as well as the developing world, and levels of education, be they high or low, universal or as in Pakistan, woefully deficient, have little impact on their durability. Children are murdered in African countries regularly, their body parts to be used for ‘black magic’, and fetish trees and sites festooned with votive offerings abound across Europe. Yet, the murder of children in such numbers in pursuit of the dark arts is rare, and the man who killed his children thus remains dangerous and must be caught quickly. He is unlikely to be successfully dissuaded from his beliefs and will require long-term incarceration. Pakistan will be no more able to rid itself of animist followings than has any other state, and the best that may be hoped for is a raising of awareness that such practices are unacceptable and will be punished accordingly. As will all those promoting such practices.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th,  2015.

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