'I did not respect our traditions, so they killed my babies': Agony of Ethiopian mother whose 15 'cursed' children were thrown to hungry crocodiles by tribal elders

Buko Balguda's 15 children were declared cursed or 'mingi' by Karo village elders and murdered at birth

Mingi children are thought to bring the village bad luck and are killed by being thrown to crocs or left in the bush

Reasons for being declared mingi include being illegitimate, being a twin and having upper teeth that develop first

Although outlawed by the Ethiopian government, an estimated 300 children still die this way each year




Buko Balguda, 45, from Duss, a Karo tribal village in southern Ethiopia's Omo Valley, is alone. The reason? Her seven sons and eight daughters were all killed at birth by village elders who decided that the children were cursed.

'I lost five plus five plus five babies - 15 in total,' she explains. 'I had seven males and eight females. During this time, our tribal traditions were very hard. I did not respect our traditions, so they killed my children.'



And Ms Balguda is not alone. The concept of 'mingi' or cursed children remains a tenet of tribal life for the Hamer and Bana people, with elders insisting that mingi infants are killed before they can bring the rest of the tribe bad luck.

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Tragedy: Every single one of 45-year-old Buko Balguda's 15 children were killed at birth by village elders who declared them to be 'mingi' or cursed

Tradition: Children can be declared mingi because they are part of a set of twins or because they develop upper teeth before they get bottom ones

Those that do survive are taken to an orphanage where they are raised away from their families but many more suffer a horribly early death at the hands of village elders, with an estimated 300 children thought to be killed each year.

'Although the Karo have stopped, the Bana and Hamer still practice mingi,' adds Lafforgue. 'It is illegal but elders do it in secret and nobody has been arrested for doing it so far.'

Until things change, the pain for women like Ms Balguda will continue. 'At the time, I had no choice,' she adds. 'Nowadays, when i see the women giving birth or giving milk, I feel sorry. I feel lonely. Nobody is on my side.'

Better life: Mingi children who are rescued grow up away from traditional tribal life and thus usually have a better chance of going to school when old enough

Safe and sound: Omo Child has rescued 37 mingi children so far, some of whom, among them this group, live in orphanages run by the charity