A Malawian judge has sentenced a Catholic priest and several others to prison terms ranging from 30 years to life over the murder of a man with albinism in March 2018.
Judge Dorothy Nyakaunda Kamanga sentenced Catholic priest Thomas Muhosha, police officer Chikondi Chileka and three others on Monday to 30 years imprisonment with hard labour on charges of transacting in human tissue.
The five were found guilty of complicit in the murder of MacDonald Masambuka whose mutilated body was found in April 2018, a month after he went missing from his home in Machinga, northeast of Blantyre.
Five other suspects – including the victim’s brother – received life sentences for their roles in the kidnapping and mutilation of Masambuka.
The brother, Cassim Masambuka, was handed a life sentence for murder and a further 14 years for trafficking in persons. He was accused of luring his brother to meet the murderers.
Malawi is one of African countries that have experienced a spate of deadly attacks on people with albinism.
People with albinism continue to live in fear of being killed or abducted for their body parts in Malawi.
The waves of violent attacks has been fuelled by the myth that body parts of people with albinism can make someone rich.
JN/APA