1-147-850 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Human sacrifice, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, 1912. Decapitation of a victim tied to a stake in front of the image of a Voodoo god during a Voodoo ceremony. The woman, accused of killing 16 people, claimed in her defence that she was a High Priestess and was performing a religious rite. Voodoo is a mixture of African religions and Roman Catholicism. From Le Petit Journal. (Paris, 21 April 1912).