2-Year-Old’s Arm Chopped Off By 'Albino Hunters' Over Superstitious Beliefs

A single mother recalled the night of terror during which her younger child lost her hand. Two-year-old Jamimah had her left arm cut off. The crime is a commonly known occurrence in Zambia. People with albinism are often killed or attacked by “albino hunters” as their body parts are used by some for rituals. She hoped for the arrest and prosecution of the men who attacked the child in her home after pretending to be police officers.

Speaking with the Albinism Zambia, the unnamed mother of the victim shared the family’s ordeal. She said that her two children, her mother had gone to sleep after having their dinners. Around 9:00 p.m. local time, she heard knocking on the front door. As the knocks persisted the woman asked who was knocking.

The men outside told her that they were Zambian police officers and they were searching for drugs. The children and the woman’s mother were still asleep when she opened the door. She saw three men in plain clothes with their faces covered with masks. They pointed a gun at her and told her to step out of the house. One man held onto the woman’s hand while two others went inside the house claiming to search for drugs.

The woman said she was cooperating as she knew there would be no drugs in her home. Suddenly she heard her older son shouting that the man was cutting off the youngest child’s hand. The grandmother, who was inside the house, was helpless as she had a gun pointed at her, Nija News reported. The mother tried to free herself and help her child. By the time she was able to get inside the home, one of the albino hunters had cut the child’s left arm off right above the elbow.

The mother desperately shouted for help. By the time they reached a hospital, it was 12:05 a.m. The child had lost a lot of blood. She remained in hospital for weeks. The woman claims that she tried to contact her ex-husband. He refused to help as he had abandoned the family over the birth of a child with albinism, Peace FM Online reported.

The child is in a stable condition but has sustained a life-altering injury. The mother claims that the older child was also deeply affected by the incident. The family hopes that the men who attacked the child and chopped off her limb are found and punished.