Europe’s police look at ritualistic killings

Police and sociologists met at the European
Police Office (Europol) headquarters in the Hague earlier this
month to share intelligence on a number of killings across Europe
that appear to have been ritualistic in nature.

These
include the “Adam” case where the dismembered torso of a boy of
about five was found in the River Thames in London last September
(News, page 12, 21 February).

At the
Europol conference, Metropolitan police officers compared notes
with their counterparts from other countries where ritualistic
murder has been suspected including Germany, Italy, Belgium, France
and Sweden.

The
conference heard that human sacrifices have declined markedly in
Africa in recent years but there have been a number of suspected
cases in Europe.

The
meeting allowed the experts to compare notes on investigative
techniques to combat ritualistic crime, child trafficking from
sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and forensic opportunities to identify
where individuals originate from.