Malawi men jailed over murder of man with albinism

[Vera]

"Five people convicted of murdering a man whose body parts they planned to sell have been sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour in Malawi.

Macdonald Masumbuka, who had albinism, was killed in 2018.

One of those sentenced to life was Masumbuka's own brother.

The killing of people with albinism is linked to witchcraft rituals, with practitioners wrongly believing the victim's body parts bring good luck.

Also sentenced by the Malawi high court on Tuesday was a Catholic priest, Thomas Muhosha, who along with four other men received a lesser sentence of 30 years in prison.

Mr Masumbuka went missing in February 2018 in the southern district of Machinga and when his body was discovered a month later, the legs and arms had been removed.

Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga said factors she considered in the sentencing included the fact that the deceased was betrayed by people close to him, that his murder was carefully planned and that he was killed violently in a graveyard.

The Catholic Church in Malawi suspended Muhosha from priesthood when news of his involvement in case first broke back in 2018.

Over the past decade, Malawi has experienced violent attacks on people with albinism driven by superstitious beliefs that their bones and body parts can be used to make charms that bring wealth or good luck.

According to official statistics, since 2014, more than 170 people living with albinism have been killed or maimed in such attacks."

His own brother murdered him... for good luck.

Our depravity really knows no bounds.

[no one]

Humans suck!
Worst creature on the planet, bar none.

[brunumb]

The killing of people with albinism is linked to witchcraft rituals, with practitioners wrongly believing the victim's body parts bring good luck.

Hopefully, life imprisonment with hard labour will go some way to dispelling the myth that such practices bring good luck.

[Dancefortwo]

"Five people convicted of murdering a man whose body parts they planned to sell have been sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour in Malawi.

Macdonald Masumbuka, who had albinism, was killed in 2018.

One of those sentenced to life was Masumbuka's own brother.

The killing of people with albinism is linked to witchcraft rituals, with practitioners wrongly believing the victim's body parts bring good luck.

Also sentenced by the Malawi high court on Tuesday was a Catholic priest, Thomas Muhosha, who along with four other men received a lesser sentence of 30 years in prison.

Mr Masumbuka went missing in February 2018 in the southern district of Machinga and when his body was discovered a month later, the legs and arms had been removed.

Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga said factors she considered in the sentencing included the fact that the deceased was betrayed by people close to him, that his murder was carefully planned and that he was killed violently in a graveyard.

The Catholic Church in Malawi suspended Muhosha from priesthood when news of his involvement in case first broke back in 2018.

Over the past decade, Malawi has experienced violent attacks on people with albinism driven by superstitious beliefs that their bones and body parts can be used to make charms that bring wealth or good luck.

According to official statistics, since 2014, more than 170 people living with albinism have been killed or maimed in such attacks."

His own brother murdered him... for good luck.

Our depravity really knows no bounds.

This reminds me of the wonderful Black ballet dancer in the US, not the mediocre, press hungrey Misty Copeland, but Michaela DePrince who was born in Sierra Leone during the civil war.  She was born with vitiligo, the skin condition in Black people in which parts of the skin doesn't have pigment.  Both her parents were killed by insurgents so she was put in a orphanage.  The women running the orphanage believed that she was the "devil's child" because of the white spots on her black skin.  Because of this superstition little Michaela got the left over food scraps and rags for clothes and nearly starved to death.    It's a long, horrible story but she was eventually adopted by a wonderful older Jewish couple in the US whose two sons had died of AIDS.  The parents  who adopted her said it merely looked like she had sparkles all over her skin and thougt it was rather pretty.   


 


Here's Michaela with her fabulous and amazing mom.  



There are some wonderful people in the world who go beyond their owh pain and loss to help others and I celebrate them.  

Michaela DePrince is a very polished and beautiful dancer.  She in the Boston Ballet right now but was formerly with the Dutch National Ballet.  Her jumps spring up out of nowhere.   

 

[no one]

Stupidstitions and their primitive responses have caused much pain and misery for the species. Unfortunately, a good number of the species refuses to evolve past the echoes of the absurdly illogical rationalizations conceived by their fiercely ignorant predecessors.