Blantyre, Malawi, March 11 (MaraviPost) _ A 19-year-old man in the Malawi eastern district of Machinga, suspected to have abducted a two-year-old girl with albinism, has jumped to his death in an apparent suicide to escape the wrath of the law, police said Wednesday.
“He was being taken to Zomba Magistrates’ Courts to answer charges of abduction when he suddenly jumped from the moving police Land Cruiser onto the road,” said police in a statement. He died on the spot.
Police identified the suspect as Joseph Andewotchi. He was caught by the community in the district on Thursday last week trying to abduct a two-year-old albino girl.
Cases of abductions and killings of people with albinism are on the rise in Malawi. Police spokeswoman Marble Nsefula told Maravi Post Wednesday police are on the hunt for several people suspected of having abducted or killed people with albinism.
“So far we have five suspects in custody who abducted or killed people with albinism,” he said.
Nsefula said another suspect fled the country into neighboring Mozambique after allegedly killing his albino girlfriend in the southern border district of Mulanje. He fled after parents of the girl suspected foul play after some of her body parts were found tampered with.
“The suspect was caught by our Mozambican counterparts and is awaiting extradition,” she said.
Meanwhile, according to the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), at least eleven cases have been recorded from December to-date.
“Six of the abducted victims were killed while others either escaped or were rescued,” said APAM Executive director Boniface Massa in an interview with Maravi Post Wednesday.
Massa said the attackers mainly target children between the ages of zero and 15 although in one incident a 60-year-old woman was also attacked and killed. She had some of her body parts removed.
It is believed that body parts of people with albinism are used as fetish by traditional doctors for making ‘get-rich-quick’ charms. Although this has no empirical scientific proof most people in Africa believe in extra-ordinary powers of witchcraft.
Cases of albinos being targeted started in Tanzania and spread to neighboring countries attracting the condemnation of the world. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has expressed shock at the recent spate of gruesome attacks against people with albinism in the region.
“These attacks are often stunningly vicious, with children in particular being targeted,” he said in a press release published Wednesday. “As a result, many people with albinism are living in abject fear. Some no longer dare to go outside, and children with albinism have stopped attending school because of the recent spate of assaults, murders and kidnappings.”-MaraviPost
