In the Democratic Republic of Congo, exorcisms are running rampant. Whenever a child is accused of witchcraft, he or she is immediately either thrown out of the house or taken to a pastor. If the child is taken to a pastor, he will perform an exorcism. These exorcisms are not cheap. This is seen more in poverty-stricken parts, which is all over Congo, where the average person makes one hundred dollars a year in Congo. These exorcisms cost fifty dollars, half a yearly salary. It's a very lucrative business for the pastor. There was one incident in which the pastor held down a little girl's arms and legs, poured hot candle wax on her, and then bit her stomach hard and pulled up just stretching her skin and acting as if he was pulling demonic flesh out of her. Then he said she was cured.
Harris is a reporter and anchor for ABC News. His report on children accused of witchcraft in Africa will air tonight on Nightline on ABC at 11:35 ET.
(c) USA TODAY, 2009
(Dan, Harris "Children forced into exorcisms." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.)
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I think its absolutely amazing that fifty dollars is half a year salary, most of us spend that as a minimum when we go shopping for groceries. It's ridiculous. Exorcism is a real creepy word, I'm not sure if you have every seen any of the Exorcism movies but they have always creeped me out. And how you told about how they did the exorcisms is absolutely gruesome.
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