Aniva convicted
The Nsanje Magistrates’ Court on Friday convicted the infamous Nsanje ‘hyena’ Eric Aniva on charges of indulging in harmful cultural practices and an attempt to commit the same contrary to Section 5 sub-sections 1 and 2 of Gender Equality Act of 2013.
Principal Resident Magistrate Innocent Nebi has since set November 22 for sentencing.
Defence lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta asked for a suspended sentence saying Aniva was a first offender and did the offence under the influence of the community.
Nebi found Aniva with a case to answer on October 28 saying after receiving submissions from both the state and defense he came up with a conclusion that Aniva engaged in harmful cultural practice known as ‘kulowa kufa’ which was done without the consent of the women involved thereby infringing on their rights.
45 year-old Aniva was arrested on July 25, 2016 following President Peter Mutharika’s directive. He hails from Tosina Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mbenje in Nsanje.
Aniva’s story became known following an interview he granted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on July 21, in which he confessed to have slept with 104 women and girls in a form of ritual cleansing. The revelations made Mutharika to order his arrest and that of all “hyenas”.
