A British Court on Thursday convicted a couple of torturing and then killing 15-year old Kristy Bamu, a teenage boy who they accused of witchcraft.
Kristy, on Christmas Day 2010, was drowned in a bath tub by his sister, Magalie Bamu and her partner Eric Bikubi, originally from the Congo.
Both Magalie, 29 and her 28-year-old football coach Bikubi, residents of Newham, denied killing Kristy.
The couple claimed the boy had cast spells on another child in the family and had been carrying out the drowning exercise in order to exorcise the demons from him, the Old Bailey court heard.
According to reports, Kristy and his four siblings, between 11 and 22 years old, had been visiting Magalie in London from their home in Paris in 2010. They were accused of bringing witchcraft into the home shortly after they arrived.
The elder Bamu sister had insisted on a “deliverance” session for them, where all five siblings had been subjected to prolonged beatings.
The AP reported that all had been forced to pray for deliverance for three days and nights and deprived of food and water.
Kristy’s two sisters, 20 and 11 years old, had escaped further torture after “confessing” to being witches.
However, Kristy saw no such freedom from his “deliverance”. He had been singled out after he had wet himself from fear.
Prosecutors at London’s Central Criminal Court painted the scene of a gruesome and painful murder. Kristy had been tortured for three days, sustaining 130 injuries from sticks, a metal bar, a hammer and a chisel, the reports revealed.
Ceramic tile floors had been smashed onto his head and pliers had been used in twisting his ears.
Bloodied, bruised and battered, Kristy was later forced into a bathtub and doused with cold water, where he drowned.
Telegraph reported that his brothers, a 13-year old and an autistic brother aged 22, had been forced to join in the torture of their brother.
The court also heard that at some point, Bikubi, who had accused the siblings of bringing voodoo or kindoki into his home, had asked the siblings to jump out of the 8th floor window to see if he could fly.
Magalie had failed to come to the aid of her sibling, instead encouraging her partner to continue until he elicited a confession from the youngsters.
Sister Kelly, now 21, testified in court, reliving the torturous holiday season.
She said: ”They started talking about kindoki, witchcraft and this and that.
”It was as if they were obsessed by witchcraft and then it became absolutely unbearable.
”They asked if we were witches. I repeated again and again and again that we were not witches.
”I did not know what was going on in their minds. They decided we had come there to kill them.”
Kelly added: ”Kristy asked for forgiveness. He asked again and again.
”Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn’t give a damn. She said we deserved it.”
Calling Magalie ”an idiot”, Kelly said: ”I am sure she still believes even to this day that we are witches.
”I have no pity for her. She had no pity for us.”
Paramedics on the scene described a blood-splattered living room, adding that items around the home had been used as “weapons of torture”.
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said: ”It was only when he realised that Kristy was not moving that Eric Bikubi stopped what he was doing and pulled him from the water. By then it was too late.”
”Kristy was just too badly injured and exhausted to resist or to keep his head above the water,” Altman said.
He said the teenage boy “had been the victim of a prolonged attack of unspeakable savagery and brutality.
”Kristy was killed in the name of witchcraft. It is hard to believe in this day and age anyone can believe someone was practising witchcraft.”
Bikubi had copped to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility caused by brain damage, but his mental health claims had been rejected.
He further pleaded guilty to two counts of causing actual bodily harm to the girls. Magalie denied the assaults, but was found guilty.
Judge David Paget said the duo would be sentenced on Monday.
