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Blantyre — Malawi police yesterday said they had arrested four people suspected of murdering an albino man five months ago to sell his bones for witchcraft. Symon Mukota was abducted from his village at night in December, with police accusing his suspects of killing him, removing his bones and burying his remains in a riverbed.

The four men were arrested on murder charges following a tip-off after “they failed to find a market for the bones”, police spokesperson Patricia Sipiliyano told state television MBC.

“The four suspects were found with bones believed to be those of an albino who went missing in December,” Sipiliyano said.

Six albinos have been killed since December, according to the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi.

Albinos, who are very pale due to a hereditary genetic condition that causes an absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes, are sometimes killed for their body parts in parts of Africa.

Malawi police have been ordered to target criminals who kill albinos to sell their bones for witchcraft. — AFP