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‘Witch Finder’ Seized for Fatal Herbal Brew

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<i> Associated Press</i>

Police arrested a self-proclaimed “witch finder” Friday who is accused of killing 15 people by making them drink a poisonous herbal mixture.

Munyeme Siamuchanga, 30, admitted giving the mixture to people he suspected of being witches to test their innocence, said police spokesman Francis Musonda.

Musonda said the 15 people died in mysterious circumstances and another 12 were sickened in southeastern Zambia since December, when Siamuchanga was asked by superstitious villagers to rid their area of witches.

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Musonda said police have exhumed bodies of those who drank the concoction for tests. Medical teams were being sent to five villages about 100 miles southeast of Lusaka where other villagers were critically ill.

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