The village of Mafi Dove is located in the southern part of Ghana (West Africa) and is a fairly large settlement with 5 thousand inhabitants. Moreover, almost none of them were born in this village.
The fact is that there is a very ancient taboo that prohibits giving birth to children in the village. Supposedly this action offends the gods. To get around this taboo, pregnant women have to travel to other communities to give birth.
In addition to this strange prohibition, which is unique even in Africa, where some tribes live almost like in primitive times, there are two more very strange rules.
If you decide to go to this village, then you will immediately notice that there are no animals on its territory. No cats, no dogs, no sheep, goats or cows. The only representatives of the animal world here are from time to time birds flying over the village.
The fact is that in Mafi Dov, it is just as strictly as procreation that it is forbidden to keep and breed any animals. The only indulgence is made for animals purchased at a nearby market, but the owner of this animal must slaughter it on the same day of purchase and not later.
And the third law, which will also seem very strange to all other people, is the ban on cemeteries. Every deceased in Mafi Dov is transported for burial to cemeteries in other communities.
All three of these rules (prohibition on childbirth, prohibition on keeping animals and prohibition on funerals) are so strict that even the modern way of life does not give any chance that these prohibitions will be lifted in the near future.
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Pregnant women suffer the most from these prohibitions. For fear of premature birth, they are forced to leave their home for another place 1-2 months before the due date. There were several cases when women began to have contractions and were urgently taken to another place, because of which children were then born with complications.
According to the elders, the unusual taboos of Mafi Dot village are associated with its founder, a hunter named Togbe Gbefovia Akiti. When he first stepped on this place, a voice came from heaven, which told him that this is a sacred place and that people can settle here only on strict observance of three rules.
Sometimes, all the same, the rules are violated and, according to the elders, there were cases when premature birth began and the child was born on the territory of the village. However, this happened very rarely, since all residents are very afraid of angering the gods. And if this happened, then after that the child's parents had to conduct a special purification ritual in order to appease the gods.
In recent years, more and more Mafi Dov villagers have resented the strict taboos, but the elders are adamant.