Women 'hire hitman to kill dad'
2007-09-10 18:11
Maputo - Two young women allegedly hired a hitman to kill their father over allegations that he practised witchcraft, according to a Mozambican newspaper report.
The weekly independent O Pais said in its Monday online edition that the women in their early twenties had contacted a police officer to kill their father and promised to pay him $400.
The payment was to be done on completion of the assignment.
However, the police officer reported the women to the authorities which led to their arrest on homicide charges.
The paper could not reveal the identity of the two women, neither of their father.
In Mozambique most of the population believes in witchcraft and family members have been divided after levelling allegations of witchcraft against each other.
Last year in the capital Maputo there was an increase of cases of lynching using the infamous necklacing method - placing a burning tyre on the neck of a suspect.
Several people accused of witchcraft in townships have been killed this way.
- SAPA