Friday, February fourteenth, the UN says at least 22 people have been killed in a village in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Over half of those killed were children. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday’s incident but the opposition parties blame the killing on the government.
Malawian sex worker arrested for having sex with children
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An HIV-positive Malawian man, who says he is paid to have
sex with children as part of initiation rites, has been arrested on the
president's orders.
Eric Aniva, a sex worker known in Malawi as a
"hyena", was the subject of a BBC feature last week.
He told the BBC that he did not mention his HIV status to
those who hire him.
President Peter Mutharika said the police should
investigate and charge him over the cases of defilement he had seemingly
confessed to.
The BBC's Ed Butler, who covered the story about Malawi's
sexual "cleansing practices", says in some remote southern regions of
the country it is traditional for girls to be made to have sex with a man after
their first menstruation.
Some of the girls are as young as 12 years old, he
reported.
What is known as a "hyena" in Malawi culture is
usually a man who has sex with widows or married women who cannot fall
pregnant.
'Horrific practices'
"While we must promote positive cultural values and
positive socialisation of our children, the president says harmful cultural and
traditional practices cannot be accepted in this country," presidential
spokesman Mgeme Kalilani said in a statement
Mr Aniva would "further be investigated for exposing
the young girls to contracting HIV and further be charged accordingly", he
said.
The president had also ordered all men and parents
involved to be investigated, Mr Kalilani said.
"All people involved in this malpractice should be
held accountable for subjecting their children and women to this despicable
evil," the statement said.
"These horrific practices although done by a few
also tarnish the image of the whole nation of Malawi internationally and bring
shame to us all."
Last year Malawi banned child marriage, raising the legal
age of marriage from 15 to 18 - something activists hoped would put an end to
early sexual initiations.
Mr Aniva told the BBC that he planned to stop taking part
in sexual cleansing practices.
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