After a wave of midnight attacks in Malawi against people accused of vampirism, the stories continue to cause problems.

'Victims' of the blood-sucking vampires claim they are being attacked in the night by vampires, scary stories which have triggered deadly vigilante violence in the country.

At least seven people have been killed in Mulanje district after being hunted down, police say.

The stories are all about being pierced by something, which could mean something else, like someone trying to spread a virus.

Jamiya Bauleni, a 40-year-old single mother, is one of the people claiming to have fallen victim to a wave of alleged vampire attacks.

Bauleni while recounting her experience before barefoot children in Ngolongoliwa village in the country's south, said that an attacker sucked her blood in the night of October 2 at her home in Thyolo district.

"This is not hearsay," she told a fascinated crowd as people edged closer to listen. "I know my blood was sucked."

"I saw light on the corner of my roof. I failed to stand up from my bed and felt something piercing my left arm," she said, pointing near her breast.

Bauleni, who makes a living selling wild pea stew, said that before she fell unconscious she heard someone fleeing the scene.

She was taken to a clinic and later discharged after being given vitamin supplements, but she chose not to report the attack.

Another victim of the blood-sucking vampires, Florence Kalunga, 27, says she was sleeping alongside her husband in their home when she saw a light 'like fire'.

'I heard the door open. I felt something like a needle in my finger,' she said.

The people targeted by vengeful mobs are often wealthier individuals in rural parts of the southern African country, where grinding poverty and poor educational standards are the norm.

Entrepreneur Orlendo Chaponda narrowly avoided an attack when 2,000 villagers, some carrying machetes and stones, stormed his home in Thyolo on September 30.

"They said I was keeping blood suckers," said Chaponda, who was out at the time. "They could have killed me if they found me."

He called the police who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd after a five-hour standoff.

"There is no truth about blood suckers, but jealous people and thugs want to take advantage to attack rich people," Chaponda said.

"If you have a nice car, you are a bloodsucker."

Malawian President Peter Mutharika was even forced to step in and insist that the government had the situation under control.

'There is no evidence of blood suckers. It's a lie meant to destabilise the region,' he said recently. 'Those spreading rumours will face the law.'

Anthony Mtuta, assistant lecturer in anthropology at the Catholic University of Malawi, said the roots of the vampire scares were in 'economic hardships and inequalities'.

'It's the rich versus the poor. The poor believe the rich are greedy and are sucking the blood of poor people,' he said.

Malawi is largely reliant on foreign aid, but some locals view the assistance with suspicion.

'To villagers, the thinking is that no gift is for free... you pay back through blood,' said Mtuta.

He has researched the vampire phenomenon and has warned that violence would "resurface unless the government learns how to handle contemporary issues".

McDonald Kolokombe, a clerk at the state-run Likhubula forest reserve, noted that the number of tourists visiting the Mulanje area had collapsed since mid-September.

“The communities rely on visitors to feed their families working as tour guides, porters and selling curios,” he said.

“We are starving because of a bad rumour about blood suckers,” added amateur tour guide Eric Yohane. “It is a big lie.”

At least 250 people have been arrested in Malawi over the mob violence, and 40 more arrested over similar crimes in neighbouring Mozambique.

Source: http://www.veeinsider.com/news/my-blood-was-sucked-malawi-vampire-victims-recount-experience/

VAMPIRE KWA. HOPE IT WILL NOT HAPPEN IN NAIJA. HMMM I GUEST BADOO BOYS WILL HANDLE THAT.

It has happen again ooooooo lala

Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa all have one thing in common, Fake News

Not about fake news, it's more about poverty... The poor remain poor because they find it too easy to blame others for their failure.

Remimadrid:
Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa all have one thing in common, Fake News

Calling Lalasticlala and mynd44 nowadays is like calling President Buhari

bamdly:
It has happen again ooooooo lala