Albino child dismembered in Burundi – association

The dismembered remains of a four-year-old albino boy were found Tuesday in Burundi a few days after he went missing, a local albino association and a government official said.

The body parts of albinos are sought after in some sub-Saharan African countries for witchcraft practices because they are believed to bring luck and wealth. 

Three people drove up in a car and snatched the boy off the street on Saturday as he was playing with other children on the outskirts of Burundi’s biggest city Bujumbura, said Albinos Without Borders (ASF), a local association.

The kidnappers drove the boy, whose name was given as Abdul, some 230 (145 miles) kilometres to Cankuzo province where he was killed and dismembered, said ASF and a local administrative official.

“Abdul was killed, then his executioners cut off his arms and legs before removing the bones and sharing them around. His remains were thrown in a forest,” said the official, who requested anonymity. 

“A child herding cattle saw his remains and raised the alarm, which led to the arrest of two of the three accused” who were caught in possession of the bones, he added.

The crime was the first of its kind in two years in Burundi, ASF spokesman Chadrack Nahumuremyi told AFP.

More than 20 albinos have been killed in Burundi since 2008. 

Nahumuremyi said authorities should impose tougher penalties for such crimes, pointing to Tanzania where the death penalty has been handed down for the murder of albinos.

“We also ask for stronger protections for albinos in this country, because all those I have spoken to, and their families, are terrified and dare not leave their homes,” he said. 

He said greater awareness was needed so that the general public understood that “albinos are human beings like them, who must be respected like any other person.”

Some experts believe the demand for albino body parts in Tanzania — where such attacks are the most prevalent — has fuelled such killings in border areas.

Albinism is a genetic condition that results in little or no production of the pigment melanin, which determines the colour of the skin, hair and eyes.