Brits - A house belonging to a traditional healer was set alight in Bethanie near Brits in North West, residents said on Monday
The healer was accused of abducting a month-old baby last week and using it for witchcraft.
Bethanie resident Boikie Mafoko said members of the community threw a petrol bomb into the man’s house on Sunday night. He said they were trying to find out what had happened to the child and to chase the man out of the area.
“It was not the intention to burn the house, we wanted to speak to the healer and his girlfriend. We wanted to question them about the baby, but they locked themselves inside the house. We have no option but to force them out,” Mafoko told ANA on Monday at the burnt-out house.
“We wanted the pair to tell us whether the baby they had used for their evil deed was not hurt. We wanted an explanation.”
North West police confirmed that the house was torched but said they could give no further details.
According to Mafoko, the police rescued the healer and his girlfriend from angry neighbours who assaulted them.
The mother of the child, Sharlot Nagel, said she was warned by the healer’s niece on Thursday that they had abducted the baby and placed a teddy bear in its cot. She said a woman brought the baby to her in the early hours of the morning and she later noticed that it was bleeding.
“The niece told me they wanted to turn the baby into a zombie but they could not as the baby kept on crying. They ultimately returned it at 3 am,” she said.
ANA