In the past six months, 15 people have been killed in the small town of Magarini, just north of Malindi on Kenya’s coast, the East African Standard reported today. The population is only some 6000 in the area. A father was killed by his own relatives for practicing witchcraft at the funeral of his son. The boy had died of a “mysterious illness” and in need for explanation, decided to accuse and lynch the boy’s father.

While you might think that tales of witchcraft and the murdering of witches would draw great attention, it does not. The news report in the East African Standards is so matter of fact as to be banal. The killings are so numerous that it is difficult to keep straight who has been killed where as described by the article. The bodies just keep piling up, and no one seems all that shocked.

At least, the report does state that they police have asked residents to stop “targeting old people on suspicion of witchcraft.” What about the young or middle aged? Are they on their own, to fend off lynch mobs of people looking for answers that will never come?