Two more ‘Namapopa’ suspects killed in Malawi ‘bloodsucking’ saga

The vampire paranoia has sparked several attacks on suspected bloodsuckers with two more people killed in mountainous tea growing district of Mulanje on Monday night following reports of some persons sucking people’s blood in the district, Police confirmed.

Police in Mulanje said an angry mob at Namainja Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mabuka in Mulanje roughed two men and in the process killing them on suspicion that they were among the so-called bloodsuckers.

The victims were beaten to death without any basis.

Police spokesman in Mulanje, Gresham Ngwira, confirmed the killings, saying identities of the victims were being verified.

“Two people were killed by a mob for allegedly being blood suckers,” he said.

Stories of vampires sucking people’s blood in the dead of the night have been circulating in Mulanje for days.

Known locally as ‘anamapopa,’ these fearsome forces are described as  using both magical powers as well as modern technology to attack their  victims.

Their bizarre methodology is said to involve somehow disabling their  target using an electrical charge or chemical substance, removing their  blood via an unidentified instrument, and then vanishing in the form of a  cat or dog.

District Commissioner for Mulanje, Reinghard Chavula said the rumours have brought a devastating effect on people since residences have always been anxious about strangers in some areas and that they were sleeping outside their homes for fear of being blood sucked.

The development comes after an angry mob on Sunday night in the area of Traditional Authority Mlolo in Nsanje beat to death a village head for suspecting him to be coordinating with alleged blood suckers in the districts.

Inspector General of the Malawi Police Services, Lexten Kachama has dismissed reports of some persons sucking people’s blood in Mulanje, saying the stories were mere speculations from deceitful people designed to instil fear in communities.

Kachama said people should stop believing in such rumours and return to their normal routine after noting that many people were sleeping outside their homes in fear of the alleged blood suckers.

“Currently nobody has died for being sucked of blood here in Mulanje. Some people have just created the story to breed fear among communities. We would like to assure residents of Mulanje that they are protected and that police investigations are underway to find the root cause of such and get to the bottom of the matter,” he said.

He said the rumours were also affecting economic activity as agricultural workers stayed indoors.

The Inspector General appealed to communities to refrain from mob justice in dealing with such issues and advised people to allow the law take its course.