Tzaneen, South Africa - A 14-year-old schoolgirl has been accused of sparking a violent witch-hunt in her village when she said an old woman kept zombies in her house.
The girl, from Burghersdorp village near Tzaneen in Limpopo, appeared in the Ritavi magistrate's court on Monday on charges of contravening the Suppression of Witchcraft Act.
According to the State, the girl sparked a violent witch-hunt when she told a community meeting that an 80-year-old woman was keeping zombies at her house.
Four houses belonging to the old woman and her two sons were torched by angry community members. The damage is estimated to be over R300 000.
The girl was not asked to plead when she appeared in court and was released into the care of her aunt.
Her aunt told the court that she would apply for Legal Aid.
Ten villagers are also facing charges of public violence, malicious damage to property, arson and contravening the Suppression of Witchcraft Act.
They have been remanded and will appear again in court on February 13.
Violent witch-hunts sparked by schoolgirls is not something new in the Tzaneen area.
In Sasekani village, a 14-year old schoolgirl told a local community that she was abducted by witches at night and forced to drink human blood.
She named a 73-year-old woman in Sasekani village as one of the witches and claimed to have seen zombies at her house. The old woman was pelted with stones and banished from the village.
Seventeen people who were arrested following the attack walked free on January 22 because of a lack of evidence.
In Muhlava Cross village, three schoolgirls confessed to practising witchcraft and named two old women as their handlers.
The girls told the community that local witches no longer use brooms to travel but teaspoons. They claimed that teaspoons were faster and carried 15 witches at a time.
The self-confessed witches and their alleged handlers were forgiven after the local chief intervened and managed to calm the situation.