A pregnant woman, Esther Kamara, the wife of Bash Jalloh, was tied up and forced to drink the blood of her late mother, whose corpse had been beheaded as per tradition at Blama Town, a village between Kenema and Bo cities in the South-eastern region of Sierra Leone.
This came about when Esther Kamara’s mother, a Soweis, died at Blama village last weekend. According to information, Esther went to her home town upon receiving information that her mother had passed away.
Esther narrated that she appeared in the village upon receiving the news about her mother’s death, as she was picked up from her Aunt’s residence by a group of Sowies who then took her to where her late mother was laid.
She discovered at the scene that her mother’s head had been cut off by society women called Soweis as a sign of completing the society’s ritual ceremony.
Sources say Esther was left in shock leading her to scream at the top of her lungs, adding that she was then told by the Soweis that her mother had told them that Esther was next to inherit her (mother’s) position as the head of the Soweis.
Esther Kamara, according to information, refused to inherit her mother’s position, stating that she never discussed such with her late mother.
It was then according to sources Esther was tied up with ropes made from palm fronds and forced to drink her late mother’s blood.
Although Esther Kamara, according sources, was pregnant, she managed to fight off the Soweis and escape.
Sources informed this medium that Soweis intended to destroy Kamara’s pregnancy aimed at qualifying here for inheriting her mother’s traditional legacy.
Sources went further that, Esther Kamara finally escaped from the hands of Soweis and made her way back to Freetown where she met her husband and explained her ordeal.
Esther Kamara and Bash Jalloh are both residents of New Low-cost, Kissy, in Freetown. They got married on 20 May 2019 at the Masjid Mustakin Mosque; Esther’s mother died at Blama on 1 November 2021. The duo escaped the country on 5 November 2021 over fear of being chased and kidnapped by the Soweis in Freetown.
Esther Kamara’s husband Bash Jalloh was employed by the Gento Group of Companies in Waterloo.
Bash was called upon by her wife after she escaped from the hands of society women called Soweis who wanted her to inherit her mother’s position in the native society.
Esther Kamara and Bash Jalloh
Narrating her ordeal, Esther Kamara said the same events had happened to her elder sister who was forcefully joined into the society by the Soweis, who later removed her genitals (female genital mutilation – FGM).
This development urged Esther’s father to leave the village for the capital, Freetown. One of the traditional norms of the Sowei’s society is that whenever a Sowei died, she is buried without her head.
Esther Kamara and Bash Jalloh have since 5 November 2021 been on the run from the reach of the Soweis, and are nowhere to be found.
In order to complete the ceremony, Soweis are still searching for Esther Kamara, the daughter of the late head of the Soweis, to be the successor of her late mother’s heritage in the society at Blama Village.