Association of persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), an umbrella local non- governmental organization (NGO) for all persons with albinism in the country, says people with albinism are still living in fear.
APAM’s Chairperson for in Phalombe district, Hastings Goodwin made the remarks on Wednesday after Unknown people tampered with a grave of a person with albinism, Betty Sitolo, who died in 2022 in the district.
However, the people did not succeed in exhuming the bones as in that community people use the concrete slab to bury their deceased.
In an interview with Zodiak Online Goodwin said the incident shows that persons with albinism are still not safe in the country.
Meanwhile, according to South East police region spokesperson Edward Kabango, the police are hunting the culprits.
Since 2014, more than 170 albinos have been killed or attacked in Malawi because of false beliefs that concoctions mixed with their body parts bring luck and wealth, according to official data.
In the past, religious leaders, police, herbalists and relatives of the deceased have been named and arrested in connection to the attacks and body exhumations.
In June last year, High court in Blantyre sentenced a police officer, a Catholic priest and four others to 30 years imprisonment with hard labor in June after finding them guilty of transacting human remains of a person with albinism.