It has emerged at an ongoing
case at the Old Bailey, that a
year old boy Kristy Bamu was
on Christmas day, tortured
with pliers, knives and a
hammer after being accused
by his sister of being a witch.
Magalie Bamu 28, and her
boyfriend Eric Bikubi 27,
attacked
Kristy and his other 2
sisters for days saying there
were ‘sorcerers’
.
Kristy was in such pain after
days of being attacked with
sticks, a metal bar, hammer and
chisel that
he begged to die,
jurors heard.
After being tortured, he was
forced into a bath despite his
exhaustion and obvious pain.
He couldn’t keep his head
above the water and ended up
drowning in the bath.
The teenage boy had suffered
101 injuries – his face and head
were covered in cuts and some
of his teeth were missing when
he was found in the blood-
soaked flat.
Bamu called an ambulance to
her home in Forest Gate, East
London, on Christmas Day 2010
and
told the operator her
brother had drowned himself
in the bathroom.
Prosecutor Brian Altman QC was
quoted as saying:
‘The boy was subjected to
unimaginable physical torture
at the hands of his older sister
and her partner and by some
of his siblings, who in order to
avoid violence to themselves,
were forced to participate in
the brutality being meted out
to Kristy”
When Paramedics arrived at the
flat, they also found Kristy’s four
siblings –
brothers Yves, 22,
and a 13-year-old, and two
sisters Kelly, 20, and a younger
sister.
‘All were standing in the living
room, hysterical, terrified and
soaking wet. None of them
spoke any English. Both girls
appeared to be injured,’ said Mr
Altman.
All the family were French but
Kelly allegedly confided in a
paramedic who spoke the
language.
Kelly had pointed out a piece of
wood with which, she said,
Bikubi had hit her over the
head, and a metal bar with
which she was beaten.
She had also pointed to a
hammer which he had used to
hit Kristy in the mouth, the court
heard.
A plastic bin bag contained
broken ceramic floor tiles
which she said had been used
to hit Kristy over the head.
‘She went on to explain to the
paramedic that over the last
four days
Eric Bikubi had been
abusing the younger sister,
Kristy and herself,
’ Mr Altman
told the court.
Police were reported to have
recovered the bloodstained
pliers, a hammer chisel and
several knives.
‘As you will discover, quite
incredibly many of these items
were to become part of the
armoury of weapons which
were used by the defendants to
beat Kelly and and torture Kristy
to death,’ Mr Altman said.
‘In a staggering act of
depravity and cruelty, they
both forced the others to take
part in the assaults upon
Kristy.’
The five siblings had left their
home in Paris to spend
Christmas with the couple at the
flat in East London.
‘They had stayed with them
before and just as with their
previous visits they had enjoyed
themselves for the first few
days,’ Mr Altman said.
‘But the mood had changed
when Bikubi accused Kristy, Kelly
and the 11-year-old of being
sorcerers – practising
witchcraft.
‘Despite her own siblings’
denials that they were sorcerers,
Magalie Bamu joined her
boyfriend in repeating these
fantastic claims and
participating in the assaults.
‘Both Erik Bikubi and Magalie
Bamu beat the three of them,
refusing to let them eat drink or
sleep for days while the
punishments became
increasingly violent with them
using the many implements
found in the flat as weapons of
torture and physical abuse.
‘However, it was Kristy 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.
‘In a staggering act of depravity
and cruelty, they both forced the
others to take part in the
assaults upon Kristy.
Mr Altman went on: ‘Bikubi
made everyone in the flat pray
and chant together all night
long, but that did nothing to
alleviate the children’s plight.
‘On the contrary, the defendants
just continued the violence as
before.
‘As Kirsty’s injuries became ever
more severe he even pleaded to
be allowed to die.
‘Eventually Bikubi took him into
the bathroom, put him in the
bath and started to run the
water.
‘Kirsty was just too badly injured
and exhausted to resist or to
keep his head above the water.
It is possible he was even
unconscious.
‘While Kristy succumbed to
death, Bikubi put Yves, Kelly and
the two other children into the
bath with their brother and
hosed them all down with cold
water using a shower head.’
Kristy had been found on the
bathroom floor and Bamu said
her brother had drowned
himself in the bath, it was
alleged.
His head and face were covered
in deep cuts and bruising, his
arms and back had cuts, and
there were teeth missing or
loose.
‘Kristy had been the victim of a
prolonged attack of
unspeakable savagery and
brutality,’ said Mr Altman.ty told him that Bikubi
was going to kill him.
But Mr Bamu did not believe his
son because he had always
regarded Bikubi as ‘pleasant
and gentle’.
‘He had sent his children on
holiday, not to a torture
chamber,’ added Mr Altman.
Mr Altman told jurors that the
couple were believers in
‘kindoki’ – a form of witchcraft
that pervades almost all sections
of their native Congolese society.
The couple deny murder and
causing actual bodily harm to
Kelly and the 11-year-old.
The trial continues
No comments:
Post a Comment