(7 November 2011, CAIRO)--This year, elder members of Ethiopia’s Kara tribe sentenced a small boy to death when his top teeth came in before his bottom teeth. He was killed, and his body was dumped into the nearby Omo River, says a report from the SOS Children’s Villages.
The boy was declared a “mingi” or cursed child. Mingi children are sentenced to death by the hundred each year, accused of being a threat to their community.
Among some tribes in the country, those who have behaviors or developments considered unusual or uncommon are dealt this death sentencing. Charges can include chipped teeth or genital injury. The practice is also applied to children born out of wedlock.
It is a sinister fate for children in a country where one out of every 20 children born dies in the first month of life, and one in six die before the age of five. The practice comes from a belief that tribal members who are not able to contribute to a community’s common good should be disposed of.
The Ethiopian government has worked to take action against the ritual, with officials threatening prison sentences to anyone complicit with the execution of children. Authorities in the country hope that the threat of imprisonment will deter people from engaging in the practice.
Meanwhile, a group of around two-dozen students of the Kara tribe implored their elders to stop the practice. The students approached the elders with a plan to create an orphanage for “mingi” away from the community, so that they no longer pose the perceived danger to the tribe.
The elders agreed, and today an orphanage is operating in the nearby town of Jinka, where 30 mingi children live and receive education.
Source: Biky amasr
The boy was declared a “mingi” or cursed child. Mingi children are sentenced to death by the hundred each year, accused of being a threat to their community.
Among some tribes in the country, those who have behaviors or developments considered unusual or uncommon are dealt this death sentencing. Charges can include chipped teeth or genital injury. The practice is also applied to children born out of wedlock.
It is a sinister fate for children in a country where one out of every 20 children born dies in the first month of life, and one in six die before the age of five. The practice comes from a belief that tribal members who are not able to contribute to a community’s common good should be disposed of.
The Ethiopian government has worked to take action against the ritual, with officials threatening prison sentences to anyone complicit with the execution of children. Authorities in the country hope that the threat of imprisonment will deter people from engaging in the practice.
Meanwhile, a group of around two-dozen students of the Kara tribe implored their elders to stop the practice. The students approached the elders with a plan to create an orphanage for “mingi” away from the community, so that they no longer pose the perceived danger to the tribe.
The elders agreed, and today an orphanage is operating in the nearby town of Jinka, where 30 mingi children live and receive education.
Source: Biky amasr
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