Malawi
police have arrested an HIV-infected man who was paid to have sex with
more than 100 adolescent girls as part of a traditional ritual marking
their passage to womanhood, officials said Tuesday.
Eric
Aniva, from the southern district of Nsanje, was held after giving a
media interview confessing to have slept with the girls for a fee of
between four and seven dollars, paid by each of their families.
The
little-known local practice lasts three days and is performed in
southern Malawi by men known as 'hyenas' at the request of a girl's
parents after her first menstruation.
Malawi's President Peter Mutharika,
pictured, ordered the arrest of a man, who described himself as a hyena,
and was paid by families to have sex with adolescent girls to help
them transition into adulthood
Malawi, which has one of the highest HIV infections in the world, criminalises sex with a person under the age of 16.
If found guilty of underage sex, Aniva could be imprisoned for life.
The
ritual is believed to train girls to become good wives and to protect
them from disease or misfortune that could fall on their families or
their village.
District Commissioner Gift Lapozo said: 'Aniva was arrested on Monday after he was summoned to my office.'
In a
BBC interview broadcast last week, Aniva confessed to being infected
with HIV and sleeping with at least 100 girls without using protection.
'Some girls are just 12 or 13 years old, but I prefer them older,' he said.
'All
these girls find pleasure in having me as their hyena. They actually
are proud and tell other people that this man is a real man, he knows
how to please a woman.'
It was unclear over how many years Aniva had been a 'hyena'.
Malawian
President Peter Mutharika had earlier issued a statement ordering
Aniva's arrest and calling for an inquiry into the role of the parents
involved.
Aniva
should 'be investigated for exposing the young girls to contracting HIV
and further be charged accordingly,' Mutharika added.
'Harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted.'
The
sexual cleansing ritual is also performed on bereaved widows in Nsanje
district to exorcise villages of evil spirits or to prevent another
death occurring.
Aniva,
who has two wives and was reported to be in his 40s, said a 'hyena' was
selected by the community based on good morals and that custom did not
allow him to use condoms.
One girl told the BBC: 'There was nothing else I could have done.
'I
had to do it for the sake of my parents. If I'd refused, my family
members could be attacked with diseases -- even death -- so I was
scared.'
Malawi police arrest HIV-infected man, Eric Aniva, who was paid to take more than 100 girls' virginity as part of sexual cleansing ritual
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