Monday, November 17, 2008

A six-year-old albino girl in Burundi has been found dead with her head and limbs removed, in the latest killing linked to ritual medicine

Albinos in the region have been targeted because of a belief peddled by witchdoctors that their body parts can be used for magic potions. The girl was the sixth person with albinism to be killed in Burundi since September 2008. There have also been a number of attacks in neighboring Tanzania. The latest attack took place in Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi. The child and her family had only just returned to their family home. Armed attackers broke into the family home and tied up the girl's parents before shooting her in the head, local officials say. They had been among a group of about 50 people with albinism to have fled to a provincial center because they feared for her safety.

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