Boys Die in Circumcision Rites

I came across this article from The Guardian via a friend of mine:

Boys die in circumcision rites

Thirty-seven boys have died in botched circumcisions while undergoing tribal rites of passage in South Africa, health officials said today.

The toll so far this winter represents a dramatic increase on last year’s 24 deaths. They are concentrated in Eastern Cape province, where circumcision is an annual ritual among the Xhosa, the second biggest ethnic group in the country.

The growth of illegal “initiation schools”, where the procedure is sometimes carried out using blunt and rusty blades, has alarmed health professionals.

The 37 boys died of complications including dehydration, hypothermia and excessive bleeding.

Sizwe Kupelo, health spokesman for Eastern Cape, said that more than 100 boys had been hospitalised with infections caused by circumcision.

Doctors have removed boys from illegal initiation schools, he added, and police have arrested 11 people accused of performing the operations without licenses.

Did I read that correctly!? … blunt and rusty blades… Yikes! I’m surprised we haven’t heard more about this on the news.

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4 Responses to “Boys Die in Circumcision Rites”

  1. Dale James says:

    Daniel,

    I agree fully about the horrific conditions that have caused numerous “Circumcision Rites” deaths in young men makes one go… “yikes”.

    The rite of Passage in this extreme case, is extreme.

    Last, for me, I generally do enjoy news from The Guardian, and perhaps a few South African news in general, much more so than FOX. Again, yikes! Or… CNN? The almighty NY Times has become a hot-miss that is a mess all-too-often in recent years. We are talking blunders, errors galore in stats and facts, warped opinions in my opinion, but certainly errors. Of course brilliant writings are around NY Times also.

    DO enjoy the Sunday Editorials whilst reading The Guardian. Highly recommend this for a great Sunday read. Interested in your feedback on said news above.

    Best,
    Djams

    • Dale James says:

      Brief add-on to above:

      You wince and state in horror, yikes. Cleary this type of story is NOT going to make mainstream media; it is not money making mainstream media pop junk-foods. The horror…

      CNN, Fox and many others will not touch this (often id ever).

      Do spread this globally.

      Dale James

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