[Mike Irwin]

From Reuters.


BAMAKO (Reuters) - A Malian man, who had his five-year-old son's throat slit in order to conjure up some good luck, has been sentenced to death in a case that has shocked the West African nation.

Fousseyni Thera, 27, decided to sacrifice his son, Daniel, after meeting an elderly witchdoctor and asking him to create a good luck charm, court documents said on Monday. The witchdoctor demanded human blood to make the charm.

The men brought the boy to a tree-filled ravine in the capital Bamako in January this year. His father held him down while the witchdoctor cut his throat, gathering the blood in a bowl into which he dipped the good luck charm.

Ritual practices and the use of witchdoctors are still popular in Mali, like many other West African nations, but this case appalled Malians.

Thera was arrested after he went back to the ravine at nightfall to bury the boy's body. He was sentenced to death in a criminal court in Bamako.

In Mali, the death sentence technically still exists but nobody has been executed for decades. Instead, criminals spend years in prison.

[4v50 Gary]

While he's sitting safely in prison, his entire village could be wiped out by a stampeding herd of elephants. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to find the good luck. Besides, he's got a lifetime to do so! ;)

[HBK]

The very definition of "third world."

[Standing Wolf]

In Mali, the death sentence technically still exists but nobody has been executed for decades. Instead, criminals spend years in prison.

Sounds a lot like most states in the United States, now that I stop to think about it.

[Soap]

Raping babies, female circumcision, etc. now slitting five year old's throats...jeez. :( Africa has some serious issues...

[Triad]

His father held him down while the witchdoctor cut his throat
So what happened to the witchdoctor? He's equally guilty.

[Iain]

Abraham was about to do that, God graciously allowed the sacrifice of an animal in a human's place, and eventually one human/divine life for all according to the Judeo-Christian tradition. (Muslims have Ismael as the would be victim not Isaac)

Wasn't all that long ago this used to happen around here (England), when the Romans turned up the druids were still sacrificing people and 2,000 or so years is not long in human history (early examples of rock art date back 30,000 years without even touching evolution)

It is clearly not right that a five year dies like that. The world is not so ''advanced'' as we like to think, but at times should we rush to impose our ''advances'' on the rest of the world? Preventing five year olds dying - yes. Modern 9-5 jobs - why? ;)

Anybody ever heard of this kind of thing going on in the US? There was a headless torso that turned up in the Thames a few years back that was regarded by many to be the result of some ritual. I should clarify - the child was believed to be a recent African immigrant and the police traced similar corpses to South Africa.

Also, Triad makes a very good point.