BurfordTJustice
2018-05-15 20:13:06 UTC
"We searched for the little girl everywhere. We found her body beside a
mosque, but she had no head," said a village teacher, Oumar Diakite.
Outcry in Mali after albino child beheaded in 'ritual' murder
Bamako (AFP) - Armed men abducted and beheaded a five-year-old albino girl
in Mali at the weekend, police said, in what was feared to be a ritual
murder for supposedly magic body parts.
Djeneba Diarra, whose family lives in Fana village 125 kilometres (78 miles)
north of Bamako, "was sleeping in the courtyard with her mother and her
sister" when the men snatched her at around 2:00 am on Sunday, police told
AFP on Monday.
The girl's mother at first tried to pursue the kidnappers, who scaled a wall
with her child, but then turned back to protect her second daughter, also an
albino.
"We searched for the little girl everywhere. We found her body beside a
mosque, but she had no head," said a village teacher, Oumar Diakite.
Blaming a lack of security for the killing, angry local residents on Sunday
partially burned down the paramilitary police headquarters in Fana,
according to several witnesses.
"We demand justice. Her head was taken. This is a ritual crime," activist
Mamadou Sissoko told AFP after going to the scene.
Sissoko, the general secretary of the Federation of Associations of Persons
with Albinism in West Africa (FAPAO), pointed out the link between crimes
against albinos and political events, ahead of Mali's presidential election
on July 29.
"Every time there are elections, we become prey for people who want to make
ritual sacrifices. This is not the first time this has happened in Fana," he
said. "The state needs to take up its responsibilities."
An albino legend on the international stage, Malian musician Salif Keita has
for years campaigned for the protection of albinos, who are both stigmatised
and hunted for ritual purposes in many African countries, including Malawi,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe as well as in West Africa.
Dozens of albinos are attacked and killed every year by people prepared to
hack off their limbs to use in rituals aimed at bringing wealth, success and
good fortune.
Albinism is a genetic hereditary disorder that causes a partial or total
absence of pigmentation in the skin, the hair and the eyes, so that
sufferers have a bleached look.
Apart from discrimination, albinos are also exposed to problems of eyesight
and a heightened risk of skin cancer. In Africa, protective suntan creams
are hard to find and expensive.
mosque, but she had no head," said a village teacher, Oumar Diakite.
Outcry in Mali after albino child beheaded in 'ritual' murder
Bamako (AFP) - Armed men abducted and beheaded a five-year-old albino girl
in Mali at the weekend, police said, in what was feared to be a ritual
murder for supposedly magic body parts.
Djeneba Diarra, whose family lives in Fana village 125 kilometres (78 miles)
north of Bamako, "was sleeping in the courtyard with her mother and her
sister" when the men snatched her at around 2:00 am on Sunday, police told
AFP on Monday.
The girl's mother at first tried to pursue the kidnappers, who scaled a wall
with her child, but then turned back to protect her second daughter, also an
albino.
"We searched for the little girl everywhere. We found her body beside a
mosque, but she had no head," said a village teacher, Oumar Diakite.
Blaming a lack of security for the killing, angry local residents on Sunday
partially burned down the paramilitary police headquarters in Fana,
according to several witnesses.
"We demand justice. Her head was taken. This is a ritual crime," activist
Mamadou Sissoko told AFP after going to the scene.
Sissoko, the general secretary of the Federation of Associations of Persons
with Albinism in West Africa (FAPAO), pointed out the link between crimes
against albinos and political events, ahead of Mali's presidential election
on July 29.
"Every time there are elections, we become prey for people who want to make
ritual sacrifices. This is not the first time this has happened in Fana," he
said. "The state needs to take up its responsibilities."
An albino legend on the international stage, Malian musician Salif Keita has
for years campaigned for the protection of albinos, who are both stigmatised
and hunted for ritual purposes in many African countries, including Malawi,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe as well as in West Africa.
Dozens of albinos are attacked and killed every year by people prepared to
hack off their limbs to use in rituals aimed at bringing wealth, success and
good fortune.
Albinism is a genetic hereditary disorder that causes a partial or total
absence of pigmentation in the skin, the hair and the eyes, so that
sufferers have a bleached look.
Apart from discrimination, albinos are also exposed to problems of eyesight
and a heightened risk of skin cancer. In Africa, protective suntan creams
are hard to find and expensive.