Gunmen have killed a man they believed to be a witch doctor. Chhem Yin was killed by his fellow Cambodian villagers because they were convinced he was spreading illness through their community with black magic. 


They thought the 34-year-old's father had taught him sorcery, so shot him dead with an AK-47 assault rifle in their fifth assassination attempt on Monday. Local police described the attack as a revenge killing, and told The Cambodia Daily villagers had filed complaints that the man had used sorcery to make people ill.  

The local deputy provincial police chief, said: 'He was not a bad guy, but most people in the village did not like him because they believed he was taught black magic by his father. I have heard unidentified suspects attempted to kill the victim previously, but no one knows who they were.'

Many people living in rural Cambodia and further afield believe in black magic, and it is not uncommon for suspected witch doctors to be hunted and threatened with violence and death.  

Daily Mail Cullage