Many children around the world are reportedly experiencing physical abuse from various faith leaders and sometimes even from their family because of the beliefs that they have been possessed by the evil spirits. This issue has become a huge problem, especially in the United Kingdom where these so-called "faith leaders," deceive parents by telling them that their kids are possessed by evil spirits.
Due to the false assumptions, parents let faith leaders torture and abuse children in the name of exorcism. According to Sky News, there were almost sixty cases of this kind of incidents in London alone last year.
The situation has become very alarming. Unfortunately, the Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) charity pointed out that the United Kingdom police force lacks the proper training as they are unable to identify such cases.
By branding the children with such absurd accusations, parents reportedly allow these faith leaders to burn, cut, strangle, beat or even starve them. And these poor kids are blamed for almost everything — from something bad happening to their relatives to being mentally different.
The theory these people believe is that some evil spirits have possessed the children. These evil spirits are responsible for making kids do wicked stuff and also brings bad luck to their household. The faith leaders can apparently see these spirits and can also take them out of kids in exchange for monetary favors.
Meanwhile, there are times that parents and other family members do not embrace or accept these "branded" children. In doing so, they are critically ignored and according to Scotland Yard's Detective Inspector Allen Davis, "deep-rooted beliefs system result in tragic incidents and further deaths of children."
Fortunately, AFRUCA is working to ban such acts like branding small children with absurd accusations. If they can do so, the faith leaders will face punishment for their actions. And since a large number of the faith-based exploitation has been exposed to the public, social services should ensure that action needs to be taken to finally address this irrational and serious issue of child abuse.
What are your thoughts on the issue of child abuse among children who are branded as "possessed" in the United Kingdom? Sound off below and check out Parent Herald for more news and updates.
