By Allen P. Lablah in Sanniquellie, Liberia
Sassywood is a form of trial by ordeal and it is officially banned in Liberia, but the ban has not been able to stick.
In Liberia’s northeastern Nimba County, a 50-year-old woman, Sennie Dealleyah died last weekend after being subjected to Sassywood ritual, which rights advocates say amounts to torture.
Two men allegedly behind the conduct of the Sassywood—Paramount Chief Robert Senneh, Esmen Payelagbay — are now in police custody undergoing interrogations in Sanniquellie. The dead woman’s husband, James Dealeyeh is also being questioned by police in Sanniquellie.
In 2008, the Supreme Court of Liberia ruled that the use of Sassywood is unconstitutional and therefore illegal under Liberian law.
There are various kinds of Sassywood, or trial by ordeal, performed against people accused of committing crimes or who are said to be involved in witchcraft.
In one Sassywood ritual, a machete is put into a fire. When it gets red hot, the machete is rubbed on the legs of several suspects and the one who gets burnt is declared guilty. In another type, suspects are given a potentially deadly concoction to drink.
The latest Sassywood ritual on the woman in Nimba was said to have been administered by a man only identified as Dahn, who hails from Nyantuo, Zor in Gbehlay-Geh District in Nimba County.
Dahn himself is said to be on the run.
It is alleged that Dahn acted upon the instructions of Paramount Robert Senneh to administer the Sassywood to Madam Dealyeh, when some children accused her of initiating them into witchcraft activities.
The practice is said to have started in Liberia many generations back, and breaking this deep-rooted cultural belief remains a challenge.
Several years ago, a number of persons died in the southeastern region of Liberia after they were subjected to Sassywood.