Return of the Penis Snatchers

[Kitsune]

http://africa.reuters.com/odd/news/usnL22903232.html

Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital
Wed 23 Apr 2008, 2:57 GMT

By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA, April 22 (Reuters Life!) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.

"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.

"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," he said.

Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.

"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Nick Tattersall and Mary Gabriel)

© Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved. | Learn more about Reuters

[The Vortex Empire]

Black Magic to shrink penises. Right.

[Kanastrous]

"He stole my penis!"

*silence*

"I got better."

[Sarevok]

This spell needs to be in the next DnD inspired RPG game.

[Darth Wong]

That's a ... creative excuse for erectile dysfunction. A sorcerer disabled it!

[Darth Servo]

This spell needs to be in the next DnD inspired RPG game.

IIRC, in the original DnD, there was a magic item that changed a character's gender.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Truly we are living in the Age of Reason.

[Kanastrous]

That's a ... creative excuse for erectile dysfunction. A sorcerer disabled it!

Well, it's sort of like a dispel magic spell, cast upon one's seven-inch Rod of...whatever.

Or eight-inch, as the case may be.

[Zixinus]

You just can't make this shit up. This is hilarious.

[Siege]

Oh Africa, you're always good for a laugh when I need it.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Spam folder (1):

mAke her laugh with a sm aller pe- n1s. Sorc_eery, balck mgacki, viagr-nevermind.

[Ritterin Sophia]

This spell needs to be in the next DnD inspired RPG game.

I'm pretty sure there's a spell like this somewhere in the Guide of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

[NecronLord]

This spell needs to be in the next DnD inspired RPG game.

I'm pretty sure there's a spell like this somewhere in the Guide of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Impotence
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level: Src/ Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5 yards
Target: 1 creature
Duration: 10 minutes per level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell enables the spell caster to render one creature, himself or otherwise, impotent (incapable of sexual intercourse). The material component is a bucket of cold water. The incantation consists of a specific personality (such as "Baba Yaga") who might be unappealing to the creature. The save is actually a check on the disgust the personality generates in the creature. If the creature finds the person repulsive, he fails the save.
Optional Effect: During the period of impotence, the creature will attack at -2 and make morale and saves at -2. Wisdom, Constitution, and Charisma scores will be lowered by 1 point each for the duration of the spell. Also, during this time the creature will feel downright miserable.

Umm... yeah... Just thought i should throw that out there...

[Molyneux]

This spell needs to be in the next DnD inspired RPG game.

IIRC, in the original DnD, there was a magic item that changed a character's gender.

"Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity". Technically speaking, any polymorph spell that can be cast on an unwilling target could also change the victim's gender - though spells like "Baleful Polymorph" won't leave said victim as the same species.

This sounds more like men being rendered completely neuter - if I lost my penis but gained a vagina (and other secondary sexual characteristics) I wouldn't be nearly so angry as if I woke up my morning to find it simply gone.


More on-topic, what the hell is the burden of proof for this kind of thing? Do they actually make the men in question drop trou?

[Mobiboros]

Well, it's sort of like a dispel magic spell, cast upon one's seven-inch Rod of...whatever.

Or eight-inch, as the case may be.

I think the real problem is a bunch of guys trying to claim their 3 inch rod of whatever really was an eight inch one before the sorcerors made them shrink.

But really, it's not the size of the rod it's what spells it can cast or how much gold you can exchange it for.

[Superman]

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has an entry for what are called "Culture Bound Syndromes." They're basically mental disorders that are unique to certain cultures.

Thought this was interesting:

Genital retraction syndrome (GRS), generally considered a culture-specific syndrome, is a condition in which an individual is overcome with the belief that his/her external genitals—or also, in females, breasts—are retracting into the body, shrinking, or in some male cases, may be imminently removed or disappear. A penis panic is a mass hysteria event or panic in which males in a population suddenly believe they are suffering from genital retraction syndrome.

Penis panics have occurred around the world, most notably in Africa and Asia. Local beliefs in many instances assert that such syndromes are often fatal.

In cases where the fear of the penis being retracted is secondary to other conditions, psychological diagnosis and treatments are under development. It is becoming increasingly clear that these forms of mass hysteria are more common than previously thought.

The phenomenon is often, but not always, associated with occult belief, such as witchcraft. These panics frequently, but not exclusively, occur in places where access to education—particularly in science and human biology—is limited, or otherwise restricted (for example, when government policies restrict such education). Others have been reported under the influence of drug use. (Compare with castration anxiety.)

Thank christ I wasn't born in that part of the world...