Kevani Kanda was just six years old when her family accused her of being a witch. She was being molested by a relative and the trauma made her wet the bed and sleepwalk.
But instead of trying to find out what was wrong, Kanda's family were convinced she was possessed by an evil spirit. For the next five years, she was starved, forced to eat her own vomit, beaten repeatedly and given suppositories containing spices to "get rid of the evil spirits." And the torture occurred in a London suburb.
"I never told anyone what was happening to me because to me it was normal," the 25-year-old Christian told NBC News. "That was my normal world back then and unfortunately my teachers did not pick up on the fact I was being horrendously abused."
Kanda isn't alone. London's Metropolitan Police announced this week that reports of abuse where the child is accused of being a witch or possessed by an evil spirit are on the rise. Fourteen years after the force recorded its first allegation of such an incident, there have been at least 27 cases during in 2014 alone.
Another high-profile case in London was that of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu, who was drowned in the bath on Christmas Day 2010 by his Congo-born sister and her boyfriend who claimed he was possessed.
These cases were key in bringing the faith-based abuse into the public consciousness. But Sharpe is adamant that police will not wait for another brutal slaying to ramp up their response.
"We can't wait for another homicide so that awareness is raised again," he said. "We need to be doing something to ensure that the warning signs are picked up earlier."
Kanda is optimistic that "it's a problem that can be dealt with, but it's not a solution that's going to come today or tomorrow."
She added: "What has happened to me has not happened in vain. I have a platform to tell people my story so we can work together to do something about it."
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Reports of Witchcraft-Related Child Abuse On the Rise in London - NBC News