Murdered Boy Accused of Witchcraft Over Wet Pants

A teenager who was tortured before being drowned in a bath was accused of being a witch after wetting himself, a court heard.

Kristy Bamu, 15, from Paris, was abused with an iron bar, hammer and chisel, leaving him with more than 100 injuries, before he drowned in an east London flat over Christmas 2010.

His sister Magalie and her partner Eric Bikubi, both 28, attacked him after he tried to hide his wet pants in the kitchen of their Forest Gate flat, the Old Bailey heard.

Another sister, Kelly, 21, broke down in the witness stand as she described four days of attacks, which were also directed towards Kristy's younger sisters, who are too young to be named.

She said that Magalie and Eric believed the wet pants were "bewitched" and they became obsessed with the idea that the three siblings were practising witchcraft.

They were starved and not allowed to sleep, while the defendants, who are both from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forced them to pray constantly in Lingala, the national language, to "remove the kindoki [witchcraft]".

They were not allowed to use the bathroom until Kristy wet himself. Kelly said the abuse intensified when Eric said he would "force the truth out with a stick", while her sister did nothing to help.

The three children eventually admitted being witches in an effort to stop the abuse, but Kristy drowned after they were bundled together in a bath and hosed down.

Bikubi denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and pleaded guilty to two counts of actual bodily harm. Magalie Bamu denies murder and two counts of actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.