A Mozambique man has been arrested by authorities for trying to sell his albino children. The three youngsters aged nine and 16 were being sold by their father for use in witchcraft ceremonies.
According to police in the northwestern region of Tete, the children were rescued after the officers received anonymous information on the matter.
The father and the children’s uncle who were both apprehended were allegedly planning to traffic the minors to neighbouring Malawi where they could be sold for the equivalent of about Sh4.7million.
The two suspects denied any involvement in the matter. “Investigations were carried out and it was possible to rescue the three minors from captivity,” local police spokesman Feliciano da Camara said in a press conference.
Albinism is a genetic condition caused by a lack of melanin in the body. This is a pigment that colours skin, hair, and eyes. The anomaly affects many people in Africa.
Many albinos in Africa have suffered waves of attacks due to their body parts being valuable and sought after for witchcraft practices in the belief that they bring luck and wealth.
Thomas Muhosa, a Malawian Catholic priest, was sentenced to 30 years in prison together with other several other people over the 2018 murder of a man with albinism.
The victim had been lied to by the parish man that a wife had been found for him, and they were supposed to meet. This was ultimately a death trap with the sentenced convicts ending up murdering him.
They said the killing happened during a murder spree in Malawi that saw over 40 people with albinism massacred and many others assaulted.