Record number of children in England are abused because parents think they are witches or possessed by black magic
The number of children in England suspected of being abused because of witchcraft, sorcery and black magic beliefs has surged to its highest level on record, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Official figures show 2,180 children were identified as potential victims of abuse linked to faith or belief last year- a rise from 2,140 in 2023 and 1,960 in 2022.
The disturbing figure represents a 49 per cent increase on 2017, when 1,460 suspected victims were identified by social services.
Experts believe the true figure could be even higher due to under-reporting and a fear that officials are too afraid of intervening for fear of offending religious beliefs.
Megan Manson, of the National Secular Society, said: 'It is alarming that thousands of children in England are suffering abuse relating to religion or belief - and that these numbers are increasing.
'We know that fear of criticising religious or cultural beliefs can impede tackling these serious forms of abuse.
'Authorities must ensure that the safety and wellbeing of children are always prioritised above any reluctance to criticise religion or culture.'
Abuse cases linked to faith or belief have seen children accused of harbouring demons subjected to exorcisms and ritualistic 'cleasings' to ‘deliver’ evil.

Eight-year-old Victoria (pictured) died 25 years ago after being tortured during a sadistic campaign of abuse by those closest to her
Others have been harmed because relatives believe their actions have brought bad luck - such as dialling a wrong number and supposedly allowing malevolent spirits to enter the home.
Among the most notorious cases was eight-year-old Victoria Climbié, tortured to death in 2000 by relatives who believed she was possessed.
She had been sent to England by her parents who hoped she would gain a better education than in her native Ivory Coast.
Instead she was starved, tortured, beaten with bike chains and kept prisoner in a freezing bathroom by her great-aunt Marie Therese Kouao and her partner Carl Manning.
When she finally died of hypothermia and multiple organ failure in a squalid flat in Haringey, east London, she was discovered with 128 separate injuries on her body.
Kouao and Manning claimed they believed Victoria, who died weighing just 3st 10lb, was possessed by evil spirits, before being jailed for life in 2001.
In 2002, former bus driver Manning apologised to Victoria’s parents for his part in her 'sickening' death. He last month lost a bid to be released on parole.
A decade later, 15-year-old Kristy Bamu was beaten and drowned on Christmas Day 2010 by his sister and her boyfriend in east London after being accused of being a witch.
Over four days, Kristy was subjected to torture with knives, sticks, metal bars, a hammer and pliers.
He was forced to pray for 'deliverance' and denied food and water. His siblings were also beaten alongside him but escaped further attacks after 'confessing' to being witches.

Marie-Therese Kouao (left), Victoria's great-aunt, was complicit in her murder

15-year-old Kristy Bamu was beaten and drowned on Christmas Day 2010 by his sister and her boyfriend in east London after being accused of being a witch

Following the murder, Magalie Bamu (left) and Eric Bikubi (right) were jailed for life
Bikubi and Magalie were both sentenced to life in prison, with Judge David Paget telling them: 'The belief in witchcraft, however genuine, cannot excuse an assault to another person, let alone the killing of another human being'.
Just days before Kristy’s death, a mother in Hackney disembowelled her four-year-old daughter during a frenzied attempt to exorcise 'evil spirits'.
Shayma Ali strangled the child before stabbing her 40 times with a kitchen knife.
She later told police that she believed her daughter was possessed by a spirit described in the Quran.
Ali, who gouged out the eyes of her daughter’s dolls to prevent them 'seeing evil', was later detained indefinitely in a mental hospital.
Officials say the problem - long associated with some African and Asian diaspora communities but which is not confined to one faith, nationality or ethnic group - is widely thought to be under-reported.
Disabled children, twins and those with epilepsy, autism or even minor behavioural problems have historically been more vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft.
Nimco Ali, chief executive of the The Five Foundation, said: 'No community is immune to the sad reality of child abuse. But the rise in violence against children under the label of witchcraft is deeply disturbing.
'This is a complex issue. Many abusers also struggle with mental health, but complexity cannot be an excuse for inaction. Cultural sensitivity, as we saw in the response to female genital mutilation (FGM), has too often meant turning a blind eye.
'It has contributed not only to the lack of prosecutions but also to the absence of prevention measures.
We must do more to protect children. That begins with naming this abuse for what it is and tackling it head on.
'Safeguarding professionals must be clear eyed: this is not culture, it is abuse.
They must see not communities, but vulnerable little girls and boys who need protection.'
Perhaps the most chilling and enduring mystery remains the case of 'Adam', a young African boy whose mutilated body was pulled from the River Thames in London in 2001.
A passer-by spotted his torso floating near Tower Bridge.
His head, arms and legs had been expertly removed, in what detectives believe was a ritual 'muti' killing - a ceremony in which body parts are believed to produce potent magical remedies.
The boy, aged between four and seven and found wearing only a pair of distinctive orange shorts, had recently arrived from Nigeria.
To this day, his real name and killers have never been identified. He lies in an unmarked grave in south London.

Mardoche Yembi, 33, was aged just 12 when he was branded a witch and subjected to two months of exorcisms.

Mardoche, now 33, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and moved to the UK after his mother died

Mardoche's story was turned into a film, Kindoki Witch Boy, which documented how he was exorcised by a pastor in the British-Congolese community
Mardoche Yembi, 33, was aged just 12 when he was branded a witch and subjected to two months of exorcisms.
Mardoche was sent from the Democratic Republic of Congo to live with his aunt and uncle in North London when his mother died during childbirth.
But relatives accused him of bringing his family bad luck and the result of Kindoki - a term for witchcraft used in the central African country.
His traumatic experiences were turned into a firm called Kindoki Witch Boy earlier this year.
The Local Government Association described the figures of suspected faith-based abuse as 'deeply worrying' and called for council social services to be better funded.
A spokesperson said: 'These numbers are deeply worrying, and councils are determined to act on any signs of abuse.
'The reality is councils receive around 1,700 referrals to children’s social care services every day, and continue to face mounting pressures providing support to children and young people.
'It is vital children’s services are adequately funded in the Autumn Budget so that councils have the resources to invest in early help and intervention, to prevent children reaching crisis point.'
Professor Charlotte Baker, of Lancaster University, said: 'Abuse linked to faith or belief occurs across the United Kingdom, often targeting children or vulnerable individuals and may result in physical, emotional, or psychological harm.
'These abuses include spirit possession, witchcraft, ritualistic abuse, and related harmful practices, which occur in many parts of the world today.
'These types of abuse are very difficult to detect and address, and efforts have gone into improving understanding among those who may come across victims of these abuses in their work.'
Colleague Leethan Bartholemow, of the International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attacks, added: 'It is much more of a problem then we recognise that it is.
'There is much more work that needs to be done.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15158815/Children-England-abused-parents-think-witches-possessed-black-magic-soars-highest-number-record.html
Teenage boy was branded a 'witch' by relatives who submitted him to 'exorcisms' to rid him of the devil
- Mardoche , 33, moved to the UK from the DRC after his mother died
A man who says he was subject to horrific childhood abuse at the hands of his own family members because they believed he was possessed has spoken out about his ordeal as it's turned into a harrowing film.
Mardoche, now 33, was just 12 years old when he claims his relatives accused him of witchcraft after he moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo to north London following the death of his mother.
What followed, he says, was a campaign of devastating psychological abuse that left him self harming before he reached teenage years as his extended family attempted to exorcise him of an evil spirit after believing he was 'kindoki' - the Congolese term for a witch or witchcraft - and that he was to blame for his mother's death.
His story, which has been documented in the film Kindoki Witch Boy, directed by BAFTA-winning Penny Woolcock, draws parallels with the horrific abuse case of Victoria Climbié, whose murder shocked the nation in 2000 and led to an overhaul of child protection laws in the UK.
Victoria, who was born in the Ivory Coast, was tortured and murdered by her great aunt and great aunt's boyfriend in a case that was linked to beliefs of witchcraft. At an inquiry into her death, a preacher who 'exorcised' Victoria admitted he had seen scars on her body but was told by her guardians that she had inflicted them upon herself because she was possessed.
It comes as statistics reveal there were 2,000 social work reports in the UK in the year running to March 2024 directly associated with kindoki beliefs, according to the Department for Education.
Kindoki Witch Boy opens with a young, carefree Mardoche, played by Jeriah Kibusi, playing football with his peers in five-a-side cages in London - before he goes back to his home where he's living with his aunt and uncle.
Mardoche, who was born and partially raised in the DRC, was sent to the UK when he was seven years old after the death of his mother. His father and six siblings remained in Congo. When he arrived, he lived with relatives whom he'd never met before, and was forced to call them 'mum and dad'.

Mardoche, 33, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and moved to the UK after his mother died

Mardoche, pictured as a schoolboy, was believed by his family members to be a kindoki child - the Congolese term for witchcraft
In the film, a young Mardoche appears shaken as his aunt tells him he 'eats like a kindoki child' and his inebriated uncle tells him he is 'good for nothing'.
One particularly distressing scene sees Mardoche cornered in his room at night as his uncle, carrying a can of beer, bursts into his room and blames his nephew for his own misfortunes - something that can be associated with kindoki in Congolese culture.
Speaking on Barnardo's' Heard and Not Seen podcast in 2020 about his experience, Mardoche said: 'My uncle, he was drinking a lot, came in the bedsit that all of us shared. He would drink he would come out and say not nice things.'
On the same podcast, former National FGM Centre boss Leethen Bartholomew explained how kindoki can be linked to 'misfortune' within the family - in that family members will target a child and accuse them of witchcraft if they feel things aren't going well for them.
He said many accusations of kindoki relate to children who are not seen as 'normal' - which can mean children with disabilities, children who wet the bed at night, or children born breach, among other things.
'If you believe that your child is possessed or you believe that your child is a witch, that they have a psychic ability to harm people... you will want to do things to protect yourself and other people in your family,' he said, speaking of how some families will deal with children they believe to be witches.

Mardoche's story has been turned into a film, Kindoki Witch Boy, which documents how he was exorcised by a pastor in the British-Congolese community
Often, family suspicions are further inflamed by pastors in the community who warn families about witches in their family and offer their support to exorcise the evil spirits - which is what Mardoche claims happened in his case.
In Kindoki Witch Boy, a young Mardoche is targeted by his pastor at church, who tells his relatives: 'Satan is upon you and upon this family.'
Staring at a distressed Mardoche, he says: 'It is a boy.'
Sobbing as he's summoned by the pastor, Mardoche stands up to face him. The pastor tells him: 'You are possessed. There is a spirit inside you. Don't lie.'
Mardoche's terrified family members watch on as the pastor tells him he is kindoki - thus marking the beginning of isolation and abuse for the young boy, who is still grieving for his mother.
As his family attempts to rid Mardoche of 'evil spirits', they confine him to his room and don't allow him to leave to eat or even go to the toilet - leading him to urinate on the carpet in desperation in one scene.

A young Mardoche is played by Jeriah Kibusi in Kindoki Witch Boy, which documents what he alleges happened to him after moving to London following the death of his mother
The film also shows a distressing scene, based on Mardoche's real experiences, in which he is exorcised by the pastor and bullied into admitting he is a witch.
The boy, surrounded by adults who scream at him to admit his powers, bursts into tears before eventually agreeing: 'Ok I'm a witch.'
Speaking about the abuse he suffered as a child, Mardoche has previously revealed how he had nightmares and felt he was 'hearing voices' after being accused of being kindoki - to the point where he believed himself that he had been possessed.
The film also portrays how Mardoche's family successfully managed to take him out of school to have him 'treated' for the spirits that they believed had possessed him.
In an uncomfortable scene, Mardoche's teachers discuss the boy's situation, with one educator warning they must be aware of 'cultural sensitivities' when dealing with his case.
She says: 'Things that may seem odd in a Western context, they're just dealt with very differently in other communities, but it doesn't make them wrong.'
Looking back on the abuse he suffered Mardoche has said he didn't think his teachers understood the reality of what was happening to him at home when they allowed him to be taken out of school.
After being removed from school, Mardoche was taken into mental health institution from Monday to Friday, and was allowed to return home on weekends.
Mardoche's suffering finally came to an end when a social worker stepped in to work on his case, before referring him to a foster carer.
Speaking to the Mirror, he revealed he forgave the family members who abused him and decided not to report them to the police.
As his story is made into a film, he hopes other children in the UK who are suffering from faith-based abuse will understand what's happening to them isn't normal - but that hope is on the horizon.
He said: 'If I could say one thing to a child going through what I went through, I’d tell them, ‘You will be just fine’.'
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