Mozambique: 113 elderly people murdered in Inhambane province in first five months of 2025 – police

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Mozambique: 113 elderly people murdered in Inhambane province in first five months of 2025 – police

11:21 CAT | 16 Jun 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. The National Criminal Investigation Service reports that violence against the elderly, often perpetrated by victims' relatives, correlates with accusations of witchcraft. {File photo: Rádio Moçambique]

At least 113 elderly people were murdered in the first five months of the year in the province of Inhambane, southern Mozambique, said police authorities who are designing strategies to curb violence against the elderly.

“The criminal investigation police in the province of Inhambane, during the first five months, recorded a total of 113 cases fitting the legal type of aggravated homicide crime,” said Inhambane National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) spokesperson in Alceres Cuamba, quoted this Saturday by the press, and who also compared the numbers with the 85 cases in the same period of 2024.

According to the police authorities, the cases were recorded in the districts of Zavala, Maxixe, Massinga and Inharrime where, said Alceres Cuamba, violence against the elderly, often carried out by relatives of the victims, correlates with accusations of witchcraft.

“These cases are a cause for concern for SERNIC, which has been working with community leaders, religious leaders and other influential figures to raise awareness in communities about the need for dialogue in order to reverse this situation,” added SERNIC’s head of public relations in Inhambane, Alceres Cuamba.

On Friday, Lusa reported that a group of locals had set fire to a bus belonging to the municipality of Xai-Xai, in southern Mozambique, vandalizing the office of the local administrative post and the home of a woman accused of witchcraft.

“The vehicle belonging to the municipal council of our city was almost completely destroyed, as was the office of the municipal administrative post. The windows of that building were broken and there was also some burning of part of the residence of the alleged accused,” said the administrator of the Xai-Xai district, Argelência Unguana.

At stake is the death of a community leader, whose demise is attributed to a 56-year-old woman, accused of witchcraft by locals.

The murder of people accused of being witches is common in rural areas of Mozambique, with elderly people being the main victims.

It is a frequent crime and is usually perpetrated by relatives, who accuse the victims of performing supernatural acts, holding them responsible for family disputes and misfortunes.

In Inhambane province alone, in 2020, at least 17 elderly people were murdered due to accusations of witchcraft, mostly made by relatives, according to the latest data from the authorities provided to Lusa that year.

Source: Lusa