Police in Mozambique have opened an investigation into the theft of body parts from an albino national who recently passed away and was buried.
The strange incident, according to the BBC, took place in the Tete province’s Moatize district, in the western region of the country of eastern Africa.
Before stealing pieces of the corpse, the robbers reportedly dug through concrete that had been used to reinforce the grave.
According to reports, the 50-year-old deceased was recently laid to rest in a village that borders Malawi. His relatives reinforced the grave with concrete to deter potential body theft, but the move backfired.
The incident has sparked reactions, with advocates for albino’s rights urging the Mozambican police to launch a prompt investigation to identify and apprehend those responsible.
“The cemetery is isolated. To get there it is a long distance, to go alone you have to think twice, otherwise, maybe a team [was involved],” the BBC quotes Remane Madane, an albino rights activist as saying.
People with albinism, who lack pigment in their skin and appear pale, are hunted like game and killed for ritual purposes in several African nations, including Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
Some people in those African nations think the power of their black magic is enhanced by using albino’s body parts in witchcraft.
Another strange myth holds that albinos cannot feel free to move around, especially in remote areas, because albino’s body parts are taken and used in rituals, which causes businesses to prosper.
