Dar es Salaam, May 21 (IANS): The European Union (EU) in Tanzania Tuesday appealed to Tanzanian authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent further killings of people with albinism.
Filiberto Sebregondi, the EU head of delegation to Tanzania, said in a letter to Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda that authorities should reinvigorate the commitment to put a halt to these malpractices, Xinhua reported.
"We have been shocked and appalled by the brutal murder of Ms Munghu Lugata on May 12 in Bariadi district.
"Ms Lugata was a person with albinism. Her severely mutilated body was found outside her home. We understand that two witchdoctors have been linked to the killing," said the EU envoy.
Sebregondi said Lugata has become the 73rd person with this genetic condition to be murdered in Tanzania since 2000.
He said Tanzanian authorities should ensure that the killing and butchering of people with albinism was followed up by due investigation and prosecution of the perpetuators, ending the practice of impunity around witchcraft.
Some of the people living with albinism have been victims of violence and some of them killed or became disabled due to their body parts being chopped off.
Most of the victims are found in mining areas that attract influx of people from other parts of Tanzania and outside the country with diverse cultural backgrounds.
Some of these people believed that in order to be rich through mining activities, blood from people with albinism and their body parts must be obtained.
It is also believed that the body parts of people with albinism have magical powers capable of bringing riches if produced by local witchdoctors and used as medicine.