E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Metropolitan Police
Kristy Bamu, 15, was killed after what a prosecutor described as "a staggering act of depravity and cruelty."
LONDON -- A British jury on Thursday found a couple guilty of torturing and murdering a 15-year-old boy whom they accused of witchcraft.
Magalie Bamu and her partner Eric Bikubi, originally from Congo, were convicted of killing Magalie's brother Kristy Bamu, who drowned in a bathtub on Christmas Day 2010.
Bikubi, 28, and Magalie Bamu, 29, had pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors at London's Central Criminal Court said the teenager had 130 injuries inflicted by sticks, a metal bar, a hammer and a chisel. They said he eventually drowned after being forced into a bathtub and doused with cold water.
The court heard that Kristy was in such pain after days of violence that he "begged to die" before drowning, the BBC reported.
The boy "had been the victim of a prolonged attack of unspeakable savagery and brutality," prosecutor Brian Altman told the jury.
Kristy's sister and her boyfriend beat him as part of a "deliverance" ceremony because they believed he had cast spells on another child in the family, according to the prosecution.
Boy killed over claims he was a witch, UK court hears
Kristy and four siblings aged 11 to 22 lived in Paris but had been visiting their older sister in London for the holidays. Soon after they arrived, Bikubi accused them of bringing witchcraft into the home.
All were forced to pray for deliverance for three days and nights and deprived of food and water. Two sisters, aged 20 and 11, were beaten along with Kristy, but escaped further attacks after "confessing" to being witches, the prosecution said.
The family of the victim said they had "forgiven" his killers, the BBC reported.
"We will never forget, but to put our lives back into sync we must forgive," the family said in a statement read out by their lawyer in court. "We take no comfort in the verdicts -- we have been robbed of a beloved son, a daughter, a son-in-law."
"Kristy died in unimaginable circumstances at the hands of people who he loved and trusted. People who we all loved and trusted," the statement continued, according to the BBC.
Judge David Paget, presiding over his last trial before retiring, said the case was so "harrowing" that every member of 12-person jury was exempted from jury service for the rest of their lives.
Bikubi and Magalie Bamu will be sentenced Monday.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Syrian rebels retreat from besieged stronghold
- Putin in power until '24? 10 key questions about Russia's election
- 'We're alive: Weary passengers stream off Costa Allegra
- Two American troops shot dead by Afghans
- Vatican exhibit reveals secret archive documents
- Egypt lifts ban on American activists from leaving country -- if they post bail
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
it is March 1st, 2012.
so yeah.
Maybe Rick Santorum can get some good ideas out of this. Just in case he wins....
Anyone read the MSNBC article on how it is tough living on just 350,000 a year? No surprise they won't allow comments on it I hope whoever wrote that rag gets to eat turds from the devils backside for eternity.
This article deserves more than a simple facepalm.
*facedesk*
Here in the US this verdict would be used as another example of the liberals' war on religious freedom.
His own family assisted in this. I simply can't imagine his devastating helplessness and feelings of abandonment during his torture.
More killing in the name of religion/magic. This is why the death penalty should be on the table. These 2 should never see freedom ever again.
I hope they are treated the same in jail everyday
seems to me they might be witches or posessed??? maybe they need the same "clensing" ... poor kid, he did not have a chance and no one to protect him....humans can be so cruel and messed up sometimes.
So sad and twisted.
this was so common about 200 years ago an look how many innocent lives were lost
This is what happens when you let anyone into your country. England is already lost and the US is on the same path.
I couldn't agree more.
God Bless the family of these poor souls as they try to make sense of this unspeakable crime.
The family, in forgiving those who perpetrated this evil deed, are true Christians, as they are able to forgive, which is something so very few are able to do these days. It is such a shame that there remains in this world, in this day and age, people who are so ignorant as to actually believe that witchcraft is real. God forgive them!
Sick bastards!
Kristy was a beautiful young man and the world is just a little bit colder for this senseless loss of life. They can't do enough to the "family" members who should have been there to protect him. Instead, they tortured him to the point of begging for death. Monsters!!!
I think England should just ship the them off to America (and take their passports/UK citizenship too) it sounds like they’d fit right in in one of the Mega-Churches in the Bible Belt
Thedead, this isn't a seed about bashing Christians. But you chose the proper name for yourself. After all, you should know, right? One day you will wear your words and attitude like a shirt. The backpeddling will be absolutely Biblical!
Levi777
Your right this isn’t the seed for making fun of Christians, of course I have to wonder is it fair to say that the Christians in the Bible Belt who attend these Mega-Churches represent all Christians? If not then I wasn’t making fun of Christians so much as I was making fun of the bible belt and mega-churches (I guess you could say the devil is in the details, pun intended) as for this article I will admit that what these guys did was horrific, but my post was more about the first thing that came to mind, being that said people with their belief in witchcraft would fit right in over there (after all another MSNBC article has 60% of American adults believing in the devil) with the rest of the bible waving evangelical crowd.
As for my name yes I know what it means and yes I know I’m going to die (I just don’t know when or how) but I can assure you I won’t be doing any “back peddling” for personally (unlike many religious people I have encountered) I believe life is for living.
Maybe you shouldn't make fun of the culture that brought you-----everything!
pained1
You’re right maybe I should make fun of other cultures, would that be ok? Or maybe I should just make fun of people that don’t fit into the Christian world view, you know gays, atheists etc.? As it is I think I’ll make fun of everything that I think deserves being made fun of including mega-churches, and if that offends well I’m sorry to say that human rights covers a lot of things but it doesn’t say that you have the right to go through life and not be offended.
DO YOU CARE ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT THIS YOUNG MAN WHO WAS MURDERED - DO YOU???
His name was Kristy Bamu, in case you weren't aware of it.
This blantant and childish disrespect that you project with your posts is nauseating.
chefaz-1319563
Well since you asked yes I do care, now the question is, do you care? I’ve already said that what I thought what happened to him was horrific, but I see you didn’t wish to address that, instead you took one part of what I said an focused on it.
PS i have found that people only what I say "dis-respectfull" when they don't agree with it
Yeah...1 1/2 posts later. And the backpeddling begins...
chefaz-1319563
Who’s backpedalling? I’m still standing by my statements, after all my first post didn’t include my thoughts on what happened only my thoughts on how their actions reminded me of the extremists in the Bible Belt and their Mega-Churches, is that a problem for you that I’d equate the actions of two crazies (the killers in this article) with the crazies in the Bible Belt? Or did it upset your standards of moral behaviour that I didn’t say what a tragedy this was first?
oops...did i say "posts"??? sorry, meant to say DERAILS.
i only see one "crazy" here other than the murderers.
guess it's all about you. guess you're on ignore. bye bye.
I agree with Chefaz. So what if God saw fit to bless a church by drawing to it the multitudes. I go to a church that seats about 600 and has three services. We do charitable works around the world, have a counseling center that is professional and prosperous, and rightly teaches the word of God. The Bible has been the cornerstone of my lifetime study, and I affirm 99 percent of what is taught by the pastoral staff.
So you declare, with a broad brush, the church I attend and others to be full of witches and murderers? Jesus said "whoever hates another without cause is guilty of murder." So who's the murderer?
Levi777
Wow so now I’m a hater because I mock mega-churches? I’m a hater because I (like everyone else) paint whole groups of people with the same brush from time to time? Man what an extremist point of view to take. Oh and so your church does some nice things I’m sure all Christians do nice things but (and let’s be honest here) Christianity also has a very dark side to it (torturing and killing for witchcraft like these guys did is one of those sides) so with that being said, I have to ask do you believe in the devil? If so do you believe in witchcraft? If not then why not? Since according to Christian lore witchcraft and the devil are linked.
Jesus said, "A tree is known by it's fruit." Also, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (or the fingers type).
There are many who attach God, Jesus, Muhammed, Krishna, The Great Twinkie, et al, to their various pursuits, but these have NOTHING to do with the truth, and it is worse than idolatry. Just because someone says they are a Christian doesn't mean they are. You know them by their actions.
You have no cause to label mega-churches as filled with witches, murderers and the like. What you 'spoke' is false and not the truth. If you have any nobility of mind, you would recant that comment.
Do you even know anyone who goes to a so-called "mega-church in the Bible Belt"? Were you one of the church goers and got your feelings hurt, or were somehow offended? Perhaps they passed the offering plate and then preached on tithing 10 percent? Here's the thing. You couldn't understand it even if it was explained to you in detail, unless you are born of the Spirit. Church should be the fruit of relationship with God, and a LOT of people know this...including people in those "mega-churches in the Bible Belt." Apparently you haven't gotten a grasp on that truth.
Levi777
Oh I see just because they do bad things in the name of Christianity then obviously they are not real Christians, somehow I doubt you’d take that view regarding Muslims and terrorism huh?
As for the churches I never said they were full of witches and murderers I said these killers would fit it there, now why would they fit in? Well maybe it has something to do with the religious extremism that these guys follow, which is just like the religious extremism that festers in these mega churches and is especially prevalent in the bible-belt. Now obviously you disagree with me here, but I won’t be retracting my statement, and if this offends then to bad, but as I’ve said before you don’t have the right to go through life and not be offended.
Other than that I hope you have a pleasant day
Losmuertos, I must say that you certainly make sense to me regarding your sound rationale here, and on other topics where I have read you. Your reasoning is extremely interesting and clear. Thank You and Take Care.
......but you can't take the jungle out of the....