/ 4 September 2000

TANZANIAN CANNIBALS CAUGHT RED-HANDED

POLICE have arrested six people in southern Tanzania on suspicion of cannibalism after they reportedly dug up the body of a child buried last week, a newspaper and radio have reported. The suspects were found with large chunks of human flesh, two pairs of shoes made of human skin, four sets of human skins and four skulls, the independent Swahili newspaper Nipashe said. The suspects include Ajibu Liyoko, 70, identified as a principal supplier of human flesh. The others were arrested while transporting the body of a child who died and was buried last week. Two others are at large after fleeing into a forest. Reports of cannibalism in this East African nation are rare, but some believe that human skin protects a home from demons and spirits and that when associated with special rituals, increases harvests and lures clients to local brew clubs and shops. – AFP