Saturday, 14 March 2015

VIRAL: Albinos being hunted and killed like animals in Africa for their body parts

Albinos scared because of being hunted and killed like animals

Albinism is a congenital disorder caused by the absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to the absence of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin.

In Malawi and Tanzania, people with albinism are being hunted for their body because witch doctors believe that their body possess magical powers.

In both Malawi and Tanzania, there is a lucrative black market for the body parts of albinos.

Since year 2000, more than 70 albinos were killed in Tanzania while in Malawi, there were already albinos who were killed for the first three months of the year.

People with albinism in Malawi and Tanzania are starting to get scared and starts to lose their trust for their friends and even their relatives because there were reports about an 11 year old girl that was kidnapped by her own uncle who was promised to pay $6,500 for her entire body.

The Tanzanian government was alarmed by the situation and had started a crackdown against all the witchdoctors who uses the body of albinos in their rituals. There were already 225 traditional healers who were arrested since January.

"The government has long tried to do everything possible to stop the killings, we are very serious with this. But we still need to enhance our efforts to bring an end to these killings, which are disgusting and a big embarrassment to the nation" - President Kikwete said.