More than 1,300 men have been arrested for defilement and incest crimes in 2015 in Malawi according to police spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa reports News24
“We are arresting many people because of superstition-related incest and defilement cases. The rate of sexual offences is scary,” said Gondwa
Recently a 36 year old man in Lilongwe, Malawi was arrested for charges of incest after his 17 year old daughter become pregnant and reported him to her mother, his wife, as the father of her unborn child, bringing to light the secret sex he had been having with her.
Witchdoctors and sangomas have fooled many Malawians into believing that they can easily get wealth by incest or defilement.
“Those who for the reason of superstition or male chauvinism will continue to engage in sexual offences should realise one thing: having sex with minors is not a passport to riches but an automatic passport to jail. We will continue arresting them.” Said Gondwa
“Malawi is a very superstitious nation… Malawian – educated or uneducated, well-travelled or not are superstitious. The only difference between those in the village and those living in air-conditioned houses in cities, is that the former believes in witchcraft while the latter believes in demons… This is why prophets are mushrooming everywhere and I have to say they are also doing quite well in urban area – both in brainwashing and making money,” Said columnist Sellina Nkowani, a writer with local paper, The Nation
Africans are easily conned because of their long held superstitions according to Kendulo Panguenye, the chairperson of the International Traditional Medicine Council of Malawi in an interview with News24. He further said that it is easy to identify the tricksters since they concentrate on lying about how to get rich quick.
According to Kendulo a genuine herbalist spends time administering plants medicinal ingredients to the sick.
“Africans should know that charms to success are innovation, creativity, hard work and determination and nothing else. If the quacks and the soothsayers knew charms for easy riches, why don’t they become millionaires themselves in the first place? I don’t understand why the educated and the rich are conned by poverty-stricken witch doctors. As Africans, are we that stupid?” Said Kendulo to News24
Doctor Chiwoza Bandwe, a psychologist at the University of Malawi, believes that the reason why even in societies where there is no superstitions defilement and incest and rape happen because men crave dominance over women to feel psychological powerful.
