Simicoudza Simicourba (1858 – 1911), otherwise known as Sitarane, was a thief and murderer on the island of

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Biography

Sitarane was born into a family of witch doctors in the Portuguese possessions of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. He arrived on the island of

in 1889 at the age of 30 to work under contract as an

indentured labourer Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensa ...

on land belonging to a Mr Morange in Saint-Benoît, having been assigned the ticket number 10 8958. Two years later, he left this employment and went underground. In 1906, he met two other criminals: Pierre-Elie Calendrin (1869–1937), the leader of the gang, who had a reputation as a witch doctor, and Emmanuel Fontaine (1886–1911), with whom he committed numerous acts of theft, some of which were undertaken in a mysterious and audacious way, and then three murders, where the victims' throats were cut during their sleep (it is claimed, however, that they were responsible for around a dozen murders). The trio terrorised the inhabitants of Saint-Pierre until their arrest in 1909, along with around ten accomplices. The investigation also revealed that the three bandits had drunk and collected the blood of their victims as part of Calendrin's occult practices. Calendrin himself denied everything at the trial and was handed a sentence of forced labour for the rest of his life. The two others were sentenced to death and were sent to the guillotine. Just before his execution, Sitarane asked to be baptised.

Influence

Curiously, only the name Sitarane remains alive in local folklore and history, and today his grave - bedecked with flowers and candles - is the focus of a genuine cult. According to the tradition of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

on the island, many sorcerers call upon Sitarane's spirit when performing

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

. It is also claimed that anyone planning a crime or a hold-up, or who is planning to misappropriate inheritance or murder their mother-in-law, prays at the grave of Sitarane at night so that his evil spirit might help them in their plans. A story is still told of a man who, one night, left a butcher's knife at Sitarane's grave and then used it to murder his mistress who was watching a variety show in the square in front of the town hall with ten thousand other people. It was the same cult that led Noël Clarel, a labourer working on archaeological digs at Pointe du Diable (a cape near Saint-Pierre), to take an 11-year-old child to a ravine and then strangle him. While undertaking his own digs at night in the hope of discovering the treasure that was supposedly hidden there, Clarel believed that finding it depended on sacrificing a child. French author and historian Daniel Vaxelaire has written at least two books on the subject of Sitarane. His (mythological) history based on what was related in his judgement was released in 2012.Maumont, So-y-sen. ''Moi, Sitarane''. Terriciae, 2012.

References

External links

Article (in English) on Executed Today website

Article on Sitarane (in French) on the Clicanoo website

{{Authority control 1858 births 1906 murders in Africa 1911 deaths Crimes involving Satanism or the occult Criminals from Réunion Executed serial killers People executed by France by guillotine Mozambican people convicted of murder Portuguese people executed abroad Vampirism (crime)