'Witch' torture trio found guilty of child cruelty

Press Association:

Two women and a man face jail today after being convicted of child cruelty for torturing and threatening to kill an orphaned child refugee whom they claimed was a witch.

The Old Bailey heard that the girl, a refugee from Angola, was starved and beaten until she was made to admit she had been carrying out witchcraft.

The girl, known as child B, is still traumatised by the abuse, the court heard. She was cut with a knife, beaten with a belt and shoe and had chilli peppers rubbed in her eyes to beat the devil out of her. The eight-year-old was also bundled into a zip-up laundry bag and told she would be "thrown away" into a river.

She was found shivering in her bare feet on the steps outside a council flat in Hackney, east London, where she suffered her ordeal. She later told police that she had been surviving on tea and bread.

The girl, who is now 10, was brought to Britain in 2002 by her aunt after her parents were killed in Angola.

The two women were found not guilty of a charge of conspiracy to murder the girl. The 38-year-old aunt, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of four charges of child cruelty.

Another relative, Sita Kisanga, 35, of Hackney, east London, was found guilty of three charges of aiding and abetting child cruelty.

Kisanga's brother Sebastian Pinto, 33, of Stoke Newington, north London, was found guilty of one charge of aiding and abetting child cruelty.

The three were remanded in custody and were warned by judge Christopher Moss that they faced jail sentences.

Mary Marsh, the director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said: "This is a horrific case, which has exposed beliefs held by some in the African community that can lead to child abuse.

"If we are to prevent cases such as this, it is vital that child protection agencies gain an understanding of African culture and work closely with the community to eradicate any practices that may pose a risk to children."

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