Relatives Accused of Killing Teen They Thought Was a Witch/Kristy Bamu, a 15-year-old boy from Newham, east London, allegedly died at the hands of Eric Bikubi and his partner, Magalie Bamu, Kristy’s sister who have been jailed for LIFE!!

By Timon Woodward
Jan 9, 2012 3:04am

Relatives who suspected a British teenager of practicing witchcraft beat and drowned him Christmas Day 2010 as he “begged to die” because of the pain they were inflicting, prosecutors alleged in a London court.

Kristy Bamu, a 15-year-old boy from Newham, east London, allegedly died at the hands of Eric Bikubi and his partner, Magalie Bamu, Kristy’s sister. Both of them have denied the charges.

Bikubi and Bamu allegedly forced Kristy’s four siblings to join in the attack.

The alleged attackers hit the teen with sticks, metal bars, a hammer and chisel, prosecutors said, and he “begged to die” because of the pain from the beating.

“It was only when he [Bikubi] realized that he [Kristy] wasn’t moving that he stopped what he was doing … by then it was too late,” prosecutor Brian Altman said.

Kristy suffered more than 100 injuries.

Kristy and his siblings had arrived in London from Paris to see the East London couple for Christmas. But Kelly, Kristy’s elder sister, said the trip turned sour when Eric Bikubi accused her and Kristy of practicing witchcraft and sorcery. Eric Bikubi also accused them of influencing his 3-year-old son.

“Despite her own siblings’ denials that they were sorcerers, Magalie Bamu joined her boyfriend in repeating these fantastic claims and participating in the assaults,” Altman alleged.

“They beat them, refusing to let them eat, drink or sleep for days while the punishments being meted out became increasingly violent, with them using many implements found in the flat as weapons of torture,” Altman said.

“However, it was Kristy Bamu who became the focus of Bikubi’s attention and, in a desperate attempt to prevent any further suffering, he and his two sisters were eventually to admit to being sorcerers. Wickedly, the defendants also recruited sibling against sibling as vehicles for their violence,” Altman told the court.

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Boy, 15, was tortured to death for being a witch 'because he wet his pants', devastated sister tells court

His sister lashes out at one of their older sisters during trial the Old Bailey

She said family was aware of witchcraft but denies any belief in the practice
By RICHARD HARTLEY-PARKINSON
Last updated at 5:05 PM on 9th January 2012

A teenage boy was tortured to death for being a 'witch' because he had wet his pants, a court was told today.
Kelly Bamu, 21, broke down in tears as she spoke about the death of her brother, Kristy, 15, at their sister's flat in Forest Gate, East London, saying she did nothing to help him.

He had been tortured after their sister, Magalie Baku, and Eric Bikubi, both 28, accused him of witchcraft.
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Victim: Kristy Bamu, had 101 injuries when he was killed for 'wetting his pants'.
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His sister's boyfriend Eric Bikubi, is accused of beating him to death

They deny murder and assaulting Kelly and a younger sister.

She was asked what had sparked the incident and Magalie said: 'The reason was Kristy had wet his pants. He tried to hide his pants in the kitchen and that is what triggered everything.'

She looked over at her sister in the dock and added: 'All over a pair of pants.'

What is alleged to have followed is a brutal torture that ended when Kristy was drowned in a bath at the flat on Christmas Day, 2010.

Prosecutors say Kristy and his two brothers and two sisters were beaten and terrorised for four days.

The two sisters were also badly wounded after being accused of sorcery, black magic and witchcraft.

The Old Bailey was told Kristy was tortured with 'an armoury of weapons' and had 101 injuries before being placed in the bath of water where he 'begged to die'.

Kelly, the first witness in the trial, said she and her brothers and sister had come to London from their home near Paris to spend Christmas with Magalie.

There had been a 'nice atmosphere' for the first few days until she heard a commotion in the kitchen where the couple were with her brothers.

She sobbed: 'I didn't see anything but I heard some noise - it was from morning to night time.

A court drawing from the Old Bailey of Eric Bikubi, 27, and Magalie Bamu, 28, who deny murdering Bamu's 15-year-old brother Kristy after accusing him of being a sorcerer
'There was a noise like there were plates falling.'

She said through an interpreter the noises went on and off but she never discovered what they were.

The slightly-built young woman, with her hair piled up on her head, was only 20 when her brother died.

She said she was born in France but her parents were from the Congo. She said she and they were aware of the African term kindoki for witchcraft, but did not believe in it.

Kelly said: 'They started talking about kindoki, witchcraft and this and that. It was as if they were obsessed by witchcraft and then it became absolutely unbearable.
'They asked if we were witches. I repeated again and again and again that we were not witches. I did not know what was going on in their minds. They decided we had come there to kill them.'

Kelly said they had been made to fast, pray all night to remove the kindoki and hold a vigil over the next few days. Then Bikubi had allegedly said he would get the truth out of them with a stick.

She said angrily: 'He began to hit Kristy while my sister was watching and didn't do anything.

'I begged him, we didn't do anything, we are innocent. She didn't argue at all. It was as if it was completely normal. She was just sitting there as a spectator.

'He hit and hit Kristy. He was not feeling well, He was having trouble breathing and he fell over. As far as Eric and Magalie were concerned, that was the kindoki coming out of him.

'We were told by a doctor that Kristy had received 200 blows.'

He had been struck with a hammer and iron bar and Magalie had also joined in with a stick.

Kelly added: 'Kristy asked for forgiveness. He asked again and again. Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn't lift a finger and she was convinced that we did bad things.'

Turning again to the dock, she shouted at Magalie: 'You are an idiot.'

Kelly added: 'I am sure she still believes even to this day, that we are witches. She didn't give a damn. She said we deserved it.'

As the questioning continued, Kelly again broke down and shouted through her tears: 'Magalie deserves to die for what they have done.

'I have no pity for her. She had no pity for us.'

The trial continues.

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March 5, 2012



A couple who tortured and murdered a 15-year-old boy they accused of using witchcraft have been jailed for life.
Kristy Bamu and four of his siblings were visiting his sister Magalie Bamu, 29, and her partner Eric Bikubi, 28, when he was killed.

Kristy drowned in a bath in an exorcism at their flat in Newham, east London, on Christmas Day in 2010 after days of torture, the Old Bailey heard.

Bikubi was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years while Bamu must serve 25 years.

During sentencing, Judge David Paget said the murder had a "sadistic element", adding it was "prolonged torture involving mental and physical suffering being inflicted before death".

Hammer and chisel
He added that the ordeal the children were subjected to "almost passes belief". However, he accepted Bikubi's defence that he had brain damage and had believed that Kristy was a witch.

But Judge Paget added: "The belief in witchcraft, however genuine, cannot excuse an assault to another person, let alone the killing of another human being."

He told Bamu he did not accept her denial of belief in witchcraft and that she was forced to attack Kristy by Bikubi.

"It is only explicable if you shared Eric Bikubi's belief. It provides some explanation for what happened, but it does not excuse it," he told her, adding that at no stage had she said sorry.

During the trial, the court heard that Kristy was attacked with knives, sticks, metal bars, ceramic floor tiles, bottles and a hammer and chisel by Bikubi and Bamu who also used a pair of pliers to twist his ear.

He drowned after he was placed in a bath for ritual cleansing.

'Jump from window'

Kristy was visiting the couple from Paris for Christmas along with his siblings, who were also attacked by the couple after Bikubi accused them of bringing "kindoki" - or witchcraft - into his home.

Bikubi beat all three of them and forced other children to join in with the attacks, the jury heard.

Kristy's sisters, aged 20 and 11, escaped further attacks after "confessing" to being witches.

But he was singled out for wetting his pants.

At one point, Bikubi told them to jump out of the window to see if they could fly. They looked to their older sister for help but instead Bamu encouraged Bikubi and beat Kristy until he also confessed to witchcraft.

In court, his sister Kelly, now 21, said: "It was as if they were obsessed by witchcraft. They decided we had come there to kill them."

She added: "Kristy asked for forgiveness. He asked again and again. Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn't give a damn. She said we deserved it."

Bamu was also found guilty of two counts of assault, charges which Bikubi had pleaded guilty to. Judge Paget said he would not pass separate sentences for these convictions.

'Ritualistic' abuse
Henry Grunwald QC, for Bikubi, said: "What happened would not have ended as it did had it not been for Mr Bikubi's mental impairment."

Philippa McAlasney QC, for Magalie, said: "Not only has she lost her entire family, she faces a solitary life in prison."

Kristy's father, Pierre, had previously said in a statement: "I feel betrayed. To know that Kristy's own sister, Magalie, did nothing to save him makes the pain that much worse."

Scotland Yard said it had investigated 83 cases involving abuse resulting from ritualistic or faith-based beliefs over the last 10 years.

Det Supt Terry Sharpe said: "The sentencing reflected the brutality and sadistic cruelty inflicted on Kristy in the days leading up to his death.

"This is a hidden and under-reported crime and therefore difficult to deal with in terms of protecting potential victims from harm."

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Holy CRAP!!!! Thank you for updating this. Am Speechless!