26 July 2022
A father who allegedly wanted to sell his three children with albinism for use in witchcraft rituals was arrested in Mozambique before being able to close the deal, police said on Monday.
Police in the northwestern region of Tete, said three children aged nine to 16 were rescued at the weekend after an anonymous tip-off.
Their uncle was arrested alongside their father.
The pair allegedly planned to traffic the minors to neighbouring Malawi where they could be sold for the equivalent of about $40 000, local police spokesperson Feliciano da Camara told a press conference.
Both men deny any involvement in the case.
“Investigations were carried out and it was possible to rescue (the) three minors… from captivity,” Camara said.
Some sub-Saharan African countries have suffered a wave of assaults against people with albinism, whose body parts are sought for witchcraft practices in the belief that they bring luck and wealth.
On 27 June, a court in Malawi sentenced a Catholic priest to 30 years and several other people to life over the 2018 murder of a man with albinism.
Source News24
