Cambodians are increasingly being executed for sorcery
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — It was like a scene from a medieval witch hunt: a victim, accused of a crime that has never been committed, is surrounded by a mob. Terror ensues, before an inevitable death.
On a balmy afternoon, Pov Sovann was sitting outside his house in a tiny town in rural Cambodia, chatting with his relative. Like on most days, there wasn't much to do besides occasionally tending livestock and watching villagers pass by.
Then, without warning, a group of about 200 people approached him. Armed with wooden sticks and stones, they yelled at him, accusing the 36-year-old of black magic.
With sorcery, the increasingly agitated mob shouted, Sovann had brought death upon six families in the village — each of which had relatives pass away without prior history of disease over the past two years, local newspapers reported.
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/cambodia/140702/cambodians-executed-sorcery