A tale of sorcery, black magic and loss -- either real or imagined -- from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Read on ... if you dare.
Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.
Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings. ...
"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.
The article says that in Ghana, 12 suspected penis-snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs about a decade ago.
Kinshasa's top cop told Reuters if you tell a victim their unit is still there, the retort is that it has either become tiny or impotence has set in.
"To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," said Jean-Dieudonne Oleko.