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Albino Killings Rising In Malawi

June 6, 2015

These horrific murders which have been taking place mainly in Tanzania seem to be spreading to Malawi. At least six albinos have been killed in the country since December according a local support group, Association for Persons with Albinism (APA). Malawi.

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Four persons suspected of murdering an 'albino' man have reportedly been arrested in Malawi. They allegedly abducted an 'albino' man from his village. They killed him, removed his body parts and buried them in a riverbed.

These horrific murders which have been taking place mainly in Tanzania seem to be spreading to Malawi. At least six albinos have been killed in the country since December according a local support group, Association for Persons with Albinism (APA). Malawi has 10,000 persons living with Albinism.

The killing of albinos is driven by the belief that their body parts have magical powers that can bring good luck and success. Nobody knows the origin of this murderous misconception. But it is definitely rooted in magical thinking, and in what is considered by the local population as the 'strange' nature of the skin.

The black market of albino body parts sell for thousands of dollars. In Tanzania, albino body parts sell for up to 75, 000 dollars in Dar es Salaam.

The recent reported cases of albino killings in Malawi presents another challenge to the humanist movement in the country. The Association of Secular Humanism (ASH) of Malawi, has in recent years been active in combating witchcraft and related superstition in the country.

The group has succeeded in providing a counter narrative to the idiom of witchcraft and magic. There here has yet to be a program set within the association that specifically addresses the protection of albinos.

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CRIME