A group of four men, not yet identified by authorities, amputated the arm of an albinistic teenager, a victim of myths and superstitions, in the province of Zambezia, central Mozambique, a Mozambican police spokesman said this Thursday.
The crime occurred on November 18 in the Ile district, four men took a 14-year-old teenager, who was sleeping on a balcony, into the forest and amputated his right arm, said police spokesman Sidner Lonzo. Republic of Mozambique (PRM), in Zambezia.
“They also tried to amputate his left arm, but fled when they learned that the teenager’s relatives had arrived,” the spokesman told Lusa, adding that the victim “is under care and is out of danger.”
According to police, there have been no arrests yet, but it is suspected that one of the teenager’s uncles is involved in the case.
In some areas of Mozambique, albinos are often killed for obscurantist purposes.
People with albinism are victims of persecution, violence and discrimination due to myths and superstitions that include the use of organs or bones in rituals, making them among the main targets of human rights violations.
According to the latest data provided to Lusa by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), at least 114 people with albinism have disappeared under unclear circumstances since 2014 in Mozambique alone.
Albinism is a genetic disease characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigments in the skin, hair and eyes.
Elsewhere in the same province, police on Saturday detained two people suspected of beheading a 37-year-old woman.
Those arrested are part of a group of five people, three of whom are fugitives, who allegedly beheaded a woman in a machamba (agricultural field) in the Morrumbala area and robbed her of her head.
“Two of the detained suspects were missing their heads, and they say that the body is with the leader [do grupo]”Sidner told Lonzo.
According to authorities, both crimes may be related to superstitious motives, and in most cases, the criminals receive orders from other people who intend to sell human organs.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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