Man arrested for keeping albino hair

Police in Machinga have arrested Mankhokwe Lilongwe, 37, for allegedly keeping hair of a person with albinism.

Machinga Police Station spokesperson Davie Sulumba said the suspect was found with the hair on July 8 2018 at Nayuchi Border Post in the district.

He said Lilongwe, a member of a youth club in the area, visited Mafukeni Molesi, a person with albinism, and allegedly told him that Machinga East legislator Esther Jolobala had sent him to collect information on the number and names of people with albinism in the area.

Said the police spokesperson: “The suspect then told the victim that there was need for him to look presentable during the scheduled meeting; hence, the need for him to have a haircut at a barbershop.”

He said Molesi accepted to have the haircut and Lilongwe collected the hair and kept it.

Sulumba said the matter was reported to Nayuchi Police who effected the arrest.

He said Lilongwe, who comes from Nyangataya Village, Sub-Traditional Authority M’chinguza in Machinga, has been charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of peace contrary to Section 181 of the Penal Code.

In recent years, there has been an increase in attacks, killing and abduction of persons with albinism in the country.