Daily Mail UK
written by James Rush
Tuesday April 29, 2014
A Cambodian man was beaten and stoned to death by a mob of about 600 people after they accused him of sorcery, according to reports.
Pov Sovann, 36, was accused by villagers of killing several elderly people over the past two years through sorcery, police have said.
He was killed during a six hour attack as a group, initially of about 200, in a village in the Bati district of Takeo Province, southern Cambodia, was joined by hundreds of others from nearby areas.
Officers have said they were unable to stop the mob as they attacked the man, The Cambodia Daily has reported.
Police believe the death of a 54-year-old woman sparked the attack.
Bati district penal police Khut Lo told the paper: 'My police could not do anything because there were many people who carried stones and clubs and were very violent.'
District police chief Ngann Sary said an ambulance was also forced to turn back by the mob.
He said villagers believed seven people, mostly believed to be elderly, had died without being diagnosed with any diseases, over the last two years.
He said villagers blamed Mr Sovann, who had practised traditional healing for a number of years.
It is not uncommon for people accused of being a sorcerer to be harassed and killed in rural areas of Cambodia.
In January, The Sydney Morning Herald reported a Cambodia man was decapitated by villagers after being accused of sorcery.
The 55-year-old victim was attacked by people armed with axes while villagers celebrated a rice harvest ceremony nearby, police said.
Som Chantha, district police chief in the southern province of Kampong Speu, said: 'He had some magic powers and some people accused him of practising black magic.'
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