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In his homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 20,000 children are forced to live homeless on the streets of the capital Kinshasa because they have been accused of sorcery. But after the conviction of his site Magalie Bamu, 29 and her boyfriend Eric Bikubi, 28, for the 15-year-old's murder, experts warned that misguided belief in withcraft now posed a greater threat to children in Britain than those in Africa. Adrift from the restraining force of their communities, there is little to stop young migrant Africans living in London letting their beliefs in sorcery and exorcism running out of control - with potentially murderous ends. Yesterday the Metropolitan Police said it had investigated 83 “faith-based” child abuse cases involving witchcraft in the last ten years. The authorities in the UK first became aware of the problem in 2000 following the torture and murder of Victoria Climbie, who was tied up, hit with bike chains and attacked with lighted cigarettes by her aunt and her boyfriend, who believed she was possessed. Since then the number of cases being investigated has risen on an almost annual basis. Yet experts believe what is being reported it only the tip of the iceberg and the reality is that even where communities are aware of abuse going on, such as children being beaten, starved, burnt, blindfolded or having chilli rubbed in their eyes, they are content to ignore it. Witchcraft, with its close links to Christian churches in Africa, is seen by extremists of a natural extension to the religion, and has followed African Communities here. Whilst the practise is centuries old, the accusing of children of witchcraft is thought to be a modern phenomena, first becoming common in the mid-1990s. Until then, it was believed that children could receive witchcraft but they would be have its full power until they reached adulthood. That has changed, and increasingly relatives believe that the children are 'possessed' and the torture is carried out as a form of exorcism. With the rise in the UK of unregulated churches preaching fundamentalist views and endorsing witchcraft, has come an increase in the kind of horrific cases the Old Bailey has just heard. Debbie Ariyo, the head of the charity Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (Afruca), said: “If you look at how fast new African churches have grown since 2005, it's quite astonishing. “One of the key beliefs of these churches is in witches and exorcising them. "Dozens of rogue churches don't want to change their practices. Small churches can be hidden away in a living room or a garage." One of the problems for the authorities is trying to track the growth. Churches are set up public centres, including leisure centres and school halls, and "no-one knows what's going on," Miss Arivo said. Other high profile cases in Britain over the 12 years include baby “Adam”, a young African boy whose torso was discovered in the Thames in 2001, and four-year-old Nusayba Hassam, whose mother was found praying over her body after removing her organs at their home in east London in 2010. She was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Dr Richard Hoskins, an African studies expert who gave evidence in the Kristy Bamu trial and who has studied witchcraft for 25 years, said the scale of the problem is something the authorities need to admit before they can tackle it. He said: “We're quite happy to talk about what is inappropriate belief when it comes to terrorism or paedophilia, but when it comes to fundamentalist religious belief affecting child protection, we don't seem to want to talk about it." "What happened to Kristy is horrendous and scandalous. We've got to take action because I'd hate to think a child in our capital goes through anything like this ever again." He added: “What happened in the flat was feral. It was the most ferocious onslaught. “It's pretty inconceivable two people could do that for five days in Kinshasa - there is a community glue in place. But in London it is very easy to be anonymous and hidden." Detectives said yesterday that child abuse involving witchcraft was “an under reported, hidden crime” Det Supt Terry Sharpe, the Metroplitan Police’s lead on Project Violet, a team set up to tackle religious-based child abuse, said that whilst Met has dealt with 83 “faith-based” child abuse cases involving witchcraft in the last ten years, averaging about eight a year, it was a crime about which they needed to raise awareness. “The intelligence from the community is that it’s far more prevalent than the reports we are getting,” he said. He warned, however, against stigmatising the Congolese community by assuming that “everybody believes in it or practices it.” Bikubu was steeped in witchcraft. Born in the DRC in 1983, as a child he had “abnormal visions” and the threat of being affected has lived with him. He moved to Dagenham aged seven and as he grew believed that he was fighting an ongoing "battle against witchcraft", the court heard. He began to pray intensely, researched kindoki on the internet and visited Nigerian pastors in north London. He told experts ahead of the trial that the “truth about witchcraft" would emerge during the case.