Yaounde - Eleven people have been arrested for murder in Cameroon after the killing of 17 people through witchcraft and cannibalism, a local newspaper reported on Monday.
The 11 members of a secret society "ate up their victims in a mystical way at night after having become invisible", the Nouvelle Expression newspaper said, quoting police sources.
An investigation was launched in February in a village close to the town of Abong-Mbang, east of the capital Yaounde, where the lifeless body of a woman was found with several organs missing.
The victim's husband filed a complaint with the police against one Joseph Mekomo, accusing him of sorcery.
Mekomo admitted to the charge and said another 11 witch-doctors were involved. "We have already killed 17 people," he said. Mekomo died shortly after his arrest but the 11 others were rounded up and the victim's missing organs recovered.
Witchcraft is commonplace in Cameroon, mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country where the courts handle such cases as a matter of routine.