7 killed in Ghana over 'penis-snatching' episodes
January 18, 1997
Web posted at: 3:00 p.m. EST (2000 GMT)
ACCRA, Ghana (CNN) -- Seven sorcerers who were accused of grabbing penises were beaten to death by angry mobs in the Ghana capital of Accra, police said. The capital is so chaotic the army may have to be called in to restore order.
According to police, two men were lynched Thursday and by Friday the death toll had risen to seven. Victims allege that the sorcerers touched them to make their genitals shrink or, in some cases, disappear to extort cash for the promise of a cure. Inspector General of Police Peter Nanfuri told state television he was prepared to call in the army.
So-called penis snatching reports are not uncommon in West Africa, where purported victims often blame penis shrinkage on handshakes with sorcerers. Residents recall a similar scare in Accra in the early 1980s.
Police and government officials dismiss the stories as the work of thieves, who police say spread rumours to create a crowd and then pick people's pockets.
Medical experts have appeared on state television explaining in detail why penises increase and decrease in size. One doctor linked the phenomenon to fear.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Outbreaks of magical "penis shrinking" or "penis snatching" are not uncommon in West Africa. At least some of the hysteria is blamed on ethnic hostilities, but psychologists also cite the lack of education among African males, widespread belief in black magic and the loss of personal identity "in the face of an increasingly complex world."
The power of magic is not taken lightly in this region, which retains strong folk traditions of witchcraft and shamanism. The practice of Voodoo, the hybrid religion that took root in Haiti hundreds of years ago via the slave trade, had its origins in West Africa and still thrives there. The ancient fear of genital-stealing magicians may be a cultural analog of the psychological disorder known as "Koro," or "delusions and acute fear of penis shrinkage."
Don't all men suffer from this to some extent?
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