Mayan medicine man burnt to death for ‘witchcraft’
President of Guatemala condemns murder of traditional healer working on cures with UK scientists
THE president of Guatemala has ordered a murder investigation after a traditional Mayan healer working with British scientists to find new medicines was burnt to death by a mob accusing him of witchcraft.
Alejandro Giammattei said he condemned the killing of Domingo Choc Che who was tied up, doused in petrol and set ablaze by villagers in his home town of Chimay, San Luis, on Saturday.
A video of the attack shows the 56-year-old running through a field engulfed in flames with onlookers filming the scene on their mobile phones.
The mob claimed he used spells on a man who died in hospital days earlier.
President Giammattei, said yesterday that he had asked prosecutors to bring those responsible for Mr Choc’s death to justice.
“I regret and condemn the murder of Domingo Choc,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “I offer my sincere expressions of solidarity and condolences to your family.”
Choc was an ajilonel, or a traditional Maya healer, who had been practising herbal medicine for 25 years.
He was a member of the Releb’aal Saq’e’, a spiritual association of Maya healers, and for the past 10 years had collaborated with scientists from the Universidad Del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) to identify medical applications for herbal medicine.
At the time of his death, he was working with UVG’S medical anthropology team on two international projects, one funded by the British Government and University College London (UCL) and another with the University of Zurich.
UVG said in a statement that Mr Choc had not been involved in treating the man who died in hospital, and that it was taking steps to protect the life and family of another ajilonel who lives in the same community.
It also called on the government to address the association of indigenous medicine with “witchcraft” and the reluctance of police to investigate cases.
Prof Michael Heinrich of UCL, told The Daily Telegraph: “This brutal and completely unjustified murder has shocked us all.
“We will continue to work trying to achieve new equitable partnerships and to improve the lives of the indigenous people.
“We will honour his and all the other traditional healers’ wisdom and dedication to healthcare under tremendously difficult conditions.”