MARYLAND COUNTY, LIBERIA-Rural Women in Maryland County are calling on their leaders, mainly the County’s Legislative Caucus, to merge with local authorities and citizens to end ritualistic killings in the County.

The Liberia News Agency (LINA) quotes the President of Pleebo District Rural Women, Christina Walker, as saying all suspicious deaths in the County are being attributed to ritualistic killing, something that has placed a dark image over the County.

Madam Walker said:” Ritualism is an age-old problem which has characterized Maryland County, and has the propensity to deny the County of major investment opportunities.”

She wants thorough investigation on the root-cause on how some people in the County arrived at the tradition of ritual performance.

The call from the women leader followed recent deaths of two students, a situation which sparked tension and protest in the County.

According to LINA, between 1965 and 1977, over one-hundred murders occurred in Maryland County, many of which were considered ritualistic, due to the mutilation and extraction of body parts from most of the corpses examined.