Ritual circumcision kills 23 males in South Africa
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Buy SPH photosJOHANNESBURG (AFP) - South African police said on Friday they had launched a series of murder inquiries after 23 males died while undergoing circumcision during traditional rites of passage into manhood.
The 23 - aged between 13 and 21 - died in various places across the country's northeastern Mpumalanga province over the course of a week.
"We have opened 22 cases of murder and one of inquest," regional police spokesman Leonard Hlathi told AFP.
One of the deaths was labelled inquest because the boy reportedly had an existing health condition.
