Witch doctors murdering children to sell body parts

The children were kidnapped while they were asleep and was murdered when their parents sold food in a market, writes the BBC.

the Children, aged two to nine years old, then had their ears cut off and teeth pulled. Some also had arms and legs removed, said Ruth Msafiri, commissioner for Njombedistriktet where the murders occurred for the BBC:

"There is a superstitious belief in the supernatural, and many believe that they can get the help of witchcraft," she says.

to local witch doctors tell people in the area that the parts of bodies, can create the prosperity and good luck. In order to acquire these parts encourages häxdoktorerna persons connected to them to kidnap and murder children.

– We urge all parents and guardians to be on their guard and to teach their children how to protect themselves, " says Ruth Msafiri.

Tanzania's deputy minister of health Faustine Ndugulile says to CNN that the children have been missing since december and that the authorities must now take up the matter with the häxdoktorerna in Njombedistriktet:

" We must find the perpetrators, but our focus right now is to educate the local traditional practitioners in the area and those in adjacent areas that they need to stop with these things.

Similar reports come from other parts of Africa. According to the south african police, there is in some quarters a belief that body parts taken from living people are more active because the screams from the affected fills them with energy.

in the Daily Nation of Nigeria, the highest number of murders with supernatural overtones, in Africa. In countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and south Africa, the demand for människoskinn particularly high.