Woman accused of witchcraft burned alive in Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay — An indigenous woman has been burned alive in Paraguay after being accused of witchcraft.

Officials said Wednesday that members of the Mbya Guarani community tied 45-year-old Adolfina Ocampos to a wooden pole and shot arrows at her before they burned her alive.

Ocampos was sentenced to death last week by the community’s chief in Tahehyi, a village some 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the capital, Asuncion.

Local prosecutor Fany Aguilera has charged nine men in the village with first-degree murder, and they have already acknowledged killing the woman.

A report by the UN Refugee Agency estimates that thousands of people worldwide are accused of being witches every year. The UN says they are often abused, cast out of their families and communities and sometimes killed.