Mob of 600 people stone 'sorcerer' to death following six-hour assault after accusing him of killing seven elderly villagers with 'witchcraft'
- Police say officers were unable to stop the mob as they attacked 36-year-old
- Victim Pov Sovann had been accused of killing several elderly people
- Officers say an ambulance was forced to turn back by the mob during attack
The Daily Mail (UK) |
A Cambodian man was beaten and
stoned to death by a mob of about 600 people after they accused him of
sorcery, according to reports.
Pov
Sovann, 36, was accused by villagers of killing several elderly people
over the past two years through sorcery, police have said.
He
was killed during a six hour attack as a group, initially of about 200,
in a village in the Bati district of Takeo Province, southern Cambodia,
was joined by hundreds of others from nearby areas.
A 36-year-old man in Cambodia was stoned and
beaten to death by a mob of about 600 people after he was accused of
sorcery (file picture)
Officers have said they were unable to stop the mob as they attacked the man, The Cambodia Daily has reported.
Police believe the death of a 54-year-old woman sparked the attack.
Bati
district penal police Khut Lo told the paper: 'My police could not do
anything because there were many people who carried stones and clubs and
were very violent.'
District police chief Ngann Sary said an ambulance was also forced to turn back by the mob.
He
said villagers believed seven people, mostly believed to be elderly,
had died without being diagnosed with any diseases, over the last two
years.
He said villagers blamed Mr Sovann, who had practised traditional healing for a number of years.
Pov Sovann was killed during the attack in a village in the Bati district of Takeo Province, southern Cambodia
It is not uncommon for people accused of being a sorcerer to be harassed and killed in rural areas of Cambodia.
In January, The Sydney Morning Herald reported a Cambodia man was decapitated by villagers after being accused of sorcery.
The
55-year-old victim was attacked by people armed with axes while
villagers celebrated a rice harvest ceremony nearby, police said.
Som
Chantha, district police chief in the southern province of Kampong
Speu, said: 'He had some magic powers and some people accused him of
practising black magic.'
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