by Fa'aiu Filipo Pisi
APIA: 13 Nov 2009 - The Supreme Court has dismissed charges of practising witchcraft against a Samoan couple. In dismissing the charges, His Honour Lesatele Rapi Va'ai, said witchcraft may mean a spirit or power that can cure sicknesses.
However the defendant said she has never practised witchcraft but she was only a traditional healer and this is not the first time that she has practised her craft.
The woman and her husband are charged for the death of a 54 year old mother in January this year, when they applied hot water from a bucket, as part of their treatment of the woman's sickness.
The healer argued in Court that the deceased was in the advanced state of her sickness when she came to her for treatment. The healer told the Court that the deceased said to her that she was tired and all she wanted was to have a rest.
The Court was not satisfied with the evidence against the healer and the charge was dismissed. The accused and her husband now face two new charges, of manslaughter and causing unlawful bodily harm. The husband is giving evidence today.
Medical evidence presented in court said that the deceased died as a result of the treatment, which was from burns caused by the heat from hot water when the healer made the deceased sit on a bucket of hot water. The Court will deliver its decision next Monday.