A female pastor is warning parents not to leave their children with just about anybody because some people, she insists, have an inclination to practise witchcraft and perform various rituals.

The preacher from Prayer of Love Church of God on Langston Road, who goes by the name Pastor Fraser, issued the caution on Monday night during a Child Month candlelight vigil at The Amy Jacques Garvey Community Centre on Jacques Road in Kingston.

The vigil was held in memory of children who were brutally murdered, with particular focus given to six-year-old Shanika Anderson who was abducted, raped, and murdered 18 years ago. Her murder remains unsolved.

“You can’t take your children and give them to ‘granny’ just normal so. You don’t know what she wants, and your child could become the sacrifice. We have to watch over our children,” Fraser said.

“People, do not give away your children. When you leave them with other people you don’t know what rituals they are carrying out, and your children are going to bear the price. Children have suffered so much at the hands and fangs of the adults — not only those who rape them and slit their throats but those who bewitch them; turn them down; and those who watch for the ones who are brilliant and cripple them, mad them, and do so much evil,” she said in an impromptu sermon before offering a prayer.

“I plead the blood of Jesus Christ against those who set themselves against children and against their growth and development. They need a bomb from the Holy Ghost. They cannot just be taking it easy and just go on. We want to put our children in the hands of the Lord. There is so much evil that awaits them. There are the evil ones who rape them, slit their throats, but many are using children for sacrifice,” she added.

Recording artiste Ricardo McCalla, the eldest sibling of Shanika Anderson, told the Jamaica Observer at the vigil that every year at this time the memories of the brutality that was meted out to his sister in 2005 returns to devastate him and his mother, Ruth Green.

McCalla wrote a song to honour his sister who, he said, was there when he wrote his first song.

“Her death is a wound that will never heal. It is a kind of vibe where, from time to time the memories pop up and are hard to overcome. I vent my anger towards the situation through music in terms of sending a message, hoping that it will connect with people so we can have less of these things or no more of it,” he said.

“When she was alive she would come and spend weekends and holidays with us. Out of all my brothers and sisters, she was like the one who I actually spent a lot of time with. My other siblings would come through every now and then but she was more frequent to Portmore, where I live, and we had a close bond. I was 25 when she was killed,” McCalla said.

On April 30, 2005 Shanika and an 11-year-old boy who was with her were lured from Coronation Market in west Kingston by a man who convinced them that he was taking them to buy patties.

Her mother, who was a vendor in the market, told investigators — after the child was reported missing — that she had left her and the boy for a short while to get items to sell, and upon her return they were nowhere to be found. The police told her then that she had to wait 24 hours to file a missing person’s report — that has changed now — but the family believes that had an immediate effort been made to find Shanika she would most likely be alive today.

The boy returned to Coronation Market at dusk and told investigators that the man had bought them patties and drinks in the Parade area of downtown Kingston, sat them down at St William Grant Park, and later took Shanika to an unknown location. He, however, slipped away, perhaps sensing that something terrible was amiss.

The following day, the beginning of Child Month, Shanika’s body was found at an unoccupied lot of land in Manley Meadows, east Kingston.

Investigators described the find as gruesome as the child was confirmed to have been raped and strangled. It emerged that her body had bruises to the vagina, head, and back. Bloody clothes and a used condom were found close to her body.

Over the years police held three male suspects, after a reward of $100,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest, but they were released after DNA samples did not connect them to the crime.

Monday’s candlelight vigil was held by YouTube influencer Claude “Big Stone” Sinclair, who has established a foundation in Shanika’s name. Sinclair continues to recognise her and other children who have died through violent means over the years.

During the vigil Christians formed a ring around children from the community and prayed God’s guidance and protection over their lives.

Moved by the prayer, one woman looked to the sky and said, “Mighty God, we are depending on you to help us to lead them in the way they should go.”