Teh One Who Knocks
05-14-2014, 11:34 AM
By Rida Ahmed - Headlines & Global News
A Brazilian woman was allegedly lynched by a mob after a Facebook post for a local news outlet claimed that she was suspected of being a witch, Indo-Asian News Service reported.
Spreading information about how the woman was seen abducting children in Guarujá, Brazil, near the country's largest city, São Paulo, the bizarre incident ended up killing her last week, according to a report from Folha de São Paulo, the country's largest newspaper.
"Housewife Fabiane Maria de Jesus, 33, died last Monday (May 5) after being beaten by a group of people from Guarujá two days before," the report said. "The lynching ... was motivated by suspicion that Fabiane was connected to child abductions in the region thought to be linked to black magic rituals. According to Military Police, however, there is no indication that she had committed such a crime."
Footage of the brutal attack shows the bound and unconscious woman surrounded by a large crowd.
"An attacker grabs de Jesus by her hair and slams her head into the ground," Live Science reported. "Then, another person on a bicycle ties one of her hands with a rope and drags her as the crowd cheers and throws trash at the dying woman."
With an ongoing investigation, police have been able to arrest several people responsible for the tragic incident.
A sketch of the woman suspected of being a child abductor was included with the alert on Facebook and resembled the victim, according to a report.
However, administrators of the Facebook page have denied taking responsibility for the attack. They released a statement that said the page had merely passed along the unfounded rumors as a public service and never claimed the child-abduction rumor was true.
Witchcraft and black magic rituals are often assumed to involve human sacrifice (especially that of "innocents" such as children and virgins), usually using blood or organs for spells and rituals.
Rumors of organ theft are not uncommon in Brazil, Live Science reported.
A Brazilian woman was allegedly lynched by a mob after a Facebook post for a local news outlet claimed that she was suspected of being a witch, Indo-Asian News Service reported.
Spreading information about how the woman was seen abducting children in Guarujá, Brazil, near the country's largest city, São Paulo, the bizarre incident ended up killing her last week, according to a report from Folha de São Paulo, the country's largest newspaper.
"Housewife Fabiane Maria de Jesus, 33, died last Monday (May 5) after being beaten by a group of people from Guarujá two days before," the report said. "The lynching ... was motivated by suspicion that Fabiane was connected to child abductions in the region thought to be linked to black magic rituals. According to Military Police, however, there is no indication that she had committed such a crime."
Footage of the brutal attack shows the bound and unconscious woman surrounded by a large crowd.
"An attacker grabs de Jesus by her hair and slams her head into the ground," Live Science reported. "Then, another person on a bicycle ties one of her hands with a rope and drags her as the crowd cheers and throws trash at the dying woman."
With an ongoing investigation, police have been able to arrest several people responsible for the tragic incident.
A sketch of the woman suspected of being a child abductor was included with the alert on Facebook and resembled the victim, according to a report.
However, administrators of the Facebook page have denied taking responsibility for the attack. They released a statement that said the page had merely passed along the unfounded rumors as a public service and never claimed the child-abduction rumor was true.
Witchcraft and black magic rituals are often assumed to involve human sacrifice (especially that of "innocents" such as children and virgins), usually using blood or organs for spells and rituals.
Rumors of organ theft are not uncommon in Brazil, Live Science reported.