Three men are in police custody in Mangochi district for allegedly abducting and killing Saidi Dyton, a 26-year-old man with albinism.

In a statement issued on Monday, Standing Voice Malawi Country Director Boniface Massah said Dyton was killed on the evening of January 27, 2021 in his home village of Kadewere.

The statement said Dyton’s disappearance was first reported to police on January 29 with three suspects arrested later that day.

It said the suspects, who include one of Dyton’s family members, confessed to abducting and taking Dyton to the banks of a river where he was killed.

The statement said the suspects intended to sell Dyton’s body to some buyers in Zomba for use in witchcraft.

It further said a fourth assailant is at large and is believed to be in possession of Dyton’s body.

The statement said the killing of Dyton is a tragic moment in the history of human rights violations against people with albinism in Malawi.

“Every day, the lives of my brothers and sisters with albinism are endangered in Malawi. Our body parts are hunted for use in witchcraft by criminals,” the statement said.

The organisation however commended the police for swiftly arresting the three suspects.

“We ask that they redouble their efforts to capture the fourth. We urge the police to escalate their search for the body of Saidi Dyton and to guarantee the protection of his surviving family members with albinism,” the statement said.