NSANJE (MALAWI) - An HIV-positive Malawian man who said he had sex with at least 100 girls and women in traditional cleansing rituals was sentenced Tuesday to two years in jail for "harmful practices". "I convict you to serve 24 months' imprisonment," judge Innocent Nebi told Aniva in a packed courtroom in the remote southern district of Nsanje. Custom in some parts of southern Malawi demands that a man, known as a "hyena", is paid to have sex with bereaved widows to exorcise evil spirits and to prevent other deaths occurring. At the request of a girl's parents, the "hyena" is also paid to have sex with adolescent girls to mark their passage to womanhood after their first menstruation. The charges, under the gender equality act, involved the ritual of sex with widows as none of the younger girls would testify.

Source: Bangkok Post November 22, 2016 15:50 UTC