The Grim Reason Tanzania Has Decided to Ban Witchdoctors

Tanzania instituted a nationwide ban on witchdoctors this week in a move to protect albino citizens.

Witchdoctors commonly believe that body parts of people with albinism — a condition that represents the lack of a particular pigment in the skin — bring good luck and wealth, prompting several attacks on albinos recently.

The country’s Home Affairs Minister Mathias Chikawe said any practicing witchdoctors will henceforth be arrested and taken to court, the BBC reports.

Around 70 albinos have been murdered in the past three years, but only 10 people have been convicted over the killings.

[BBC]

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Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com.