iblog

Many residents in Tanzania are currently living in fear as they believe there exists a demon bat in the woods which transforms into a human at night and then comes to rape both men and women. Named Popo Bawa (meaning ‘winged bat’), the demon is said to be a spirit cast by witches, and stories about him have been told for many years. Some believe that lighting fires will repel Popo whilst others smear pig oil onto their skins. Normally I find superstitious talk pretty harmless but kinds like these make me feel wary. Not only are these beliefs seriously coming in the way of living comfortably but they have the potential to hinder residents from finding the real attacker, who is probably sitting around feeling very smug. In what may end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy, the real demon may go unscathed.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 11:32 am and is filed under Culture, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.