Cannibalism in Central African Republic
'Mad Dog' ate the flesh of two men in revenge for the murder of his family

"Mad Dog", real name Ouandja Magloire, first appeared in the news after he killed a Muslim and then ate his flesh in front of a horrified crowd.

Magloire was said to have acted in retaliation of the killing of his pregnant wife, his-sister-in law and her baby by the Muslim group known as Seleka.

"They broke down the door and cut my baby in half. I promised I would get my revenge," he told a BBC reporter.

Magloire was part of a Christian mob who went on the rampage against Muslims in the city of Bangui, capital of CAR, after President Michel Djotodia resigned.

The cannibal had seen his soon-to-be victim, a Muslim, on a minibus and followed him, the BBC said.

As Magloire's crowd gathered strength they forced the bus to stop, dragged the passenger on to the street, beat and stabbed him and set him on fire.

"Muslim! Muslim! Muslim. I stabbed him in the head. I poured petrol on him. I burned him. Then I ate his leg, the whole thing right down to the bone - with bread. That's why people call me Mad Dog," Magloire said.

Witnesses did not intervene but recorded the footage, including the cannibalism, on their mobile phones.

"Everyone's so angry with the Muslims. No way anyone was going to intervene," a witness said.

The following day Mad Dog returned to the scene with a chunk of the dead man's flesh. He put it between two halves of a baguette and ate it with okra, the witness continued.

Mad Dog said he had acted in that way "because I am angry".

According to Associated Press, two Muslim men were also killed by residents of the Sango neighbourhood in revenge for the lynching of a local taxi driver. Magloire did not seem to have taken part in that killing but turned up in the aftermath and carried out a second act of cannibalism.

Many Christian fighters in CAR believe in magic and wear amulets containing the flesh of the people they have killed, in the belief that it makes them invincible.

Muslim Seleka and Christian anti-Bakala groups are fighting against each other following the overthrow of former president Francois Bozize, of CAR's majority Christian population, by Djotodia, a Muslim, last March.

The country has descended into sectarian violence ever since.

Djotodia was considered by many as incapable of leading the country because he had failed to halt sectarian bloodshed that has claimed the lives of at least 1,000 civilians and uprooted nearly a million people.

Bangui mayor Catherine Samba-Panza, 59, was elected interim president of the Central African Republic after Djoyodia quit. She used her first speech to appeal to both Christians and Muslims to stop the fighting.

The EU has agreed to send 1,000 troops to CAR to help 4,000 African and 1,600 French troops end the conflict.