Neneh
Babou, a native of Essau on Thursday told the TRRC’s regional hearings in Barra
that after the loss of her eight month old baby due to concoctions she was forced
to drink, she got two more miscarriages and still suffered from navel and head
pain.
Recalling
the day of the incident, the victim said when the witch hunters came to their
village, they alleged she had pregnancy problems and that they were going to treat
her. She added that they took her away even though she assured them that she
was okay.
“But
they insisted that I must go. This was the time my husband intervened and told
me to comply because of the fear we had of the former regime”
Babou,
a petty trader, also recalled that the witch-hunters were accompanied by
personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), soldiers and the green boys
and girls.
She
disclosed that she was captured alongside her in-law.
“The
vehicle that took us was full but I did not have time to look around because I
was embarrassed and humiliated.”
On
how she felt to be accused a witch, Babou maintained that she was so ashamed
that she did not want to live again.
“I
was told to sit in the vehicle and wait for the marabout to give me concoction
and I was held in that bus from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. I did not comply going with
them but they forced me to go with them.”
She
also testified that there were many soldiers, who were armed with rifles as
well as green boys.
The
witness testified that they threatened to kill any person who refused to comply
with the witch-hunters.
Upon
arrival in Kololi at the residence of late Baba Jobe, Babou told the commission
that they found place full with soldiers, green boys, girls and a marabout.
“I
was eight months pregnant at the time of my capture. At this residence, some
people who drunk the concoction behaved as drunken persons, while others
urinated on themselves,” she explained.
She
further narrated that the house they were ordered to drink the concoction
looked like a toilet, further describing the concoction as powdery and yellow
in colour.
“I
was asked to drink a full cup but I told them I couldn’t because of my
condition; as I was 8 months pregnant. When I refused to drink the rest of the
medicine, my in-law intervened and asked the soldier whether he didn’t see my
condition at the time. He told the man that he was very wicked.”
The
witness explained that she then put down the cup and left, adding that after
drinking the concoction she vomited three times.
“While
I was there my in-law was given the concoction to drink and she also vomited.
After she returned home she kept on looking for medications but she eventually
went mad.”
Babou
disclosed that she was not given any food or water and she felt pains in her stomach, adding
that she spent the night on the bare floor in the house they were kept.
The
following day, she was released with her in-law.
“My
head and waist still pains me seriously. However, we were in a hurry to get
home because people were looking at us as witches. I was the only young person
among those that were taken from Barra.”
After
drinking the concoction, witness told the commission that the pains in her
stomach continued and she kept going to the hospital.
“When
I gave birth, for three days my baby did not suck my breast so I was referred
from Essau Health Centre to Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul,
but still my baby was not sucking. I was discharged from the hospital and when
we returned home my husband bought milk which we used to feed the baby.”
She
told the commission that she was later referred to the Children’s hospital
around ‘dead house’, where she was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
but after several injections she did not feel okay.
“My
husband later told me that my baby named after Salma Faal was suffering from
scissors and advised that I should see a marabout. So I kept on running from
one marabout to another, but she eventually died after 8 months of medical
treatment. “
Mrs.
Babou told the Commission that after the demise of her baby, she got two more
miscarriages and that she still suffered from navel and head pain.
