A priest was sentenced Monday June 27 by the court in Blantyre, southern Malawi, to 30 years in prison in the case of an albino man who was killed and dismembered in 2018, according to a decision obtained by AFP.
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Relatives had promised to introduce him to his future wife, but MacDonald Masambuka, a 22-year-old albino, was the victim of an ambush: killed, then dismembered, his bones then removed to be sold. A total of twelve people were convicted in this case. Five, including the brother of the victim who set the macabre trap, were sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum sentence.
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The killing “was motivated by the deceased’s disability, namely albinism,” Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamangadu said in her decision. Catholic priest Thomas Muhosha, who heads the community that includes the town of Machinga, about 100 kilometers east of Blantyre, broke the community’s “trust,” the judge ordered. He was found guilty of attempting to sell body parts. Albinos are being attacked in this poor South African country. Parts of their bodies are used in witchcraft rituals believed to bring good luck and health. At least 40 murders and 145 assaults have been reported in the wave of targeted violence against albinos that has swept the country since 2014.
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