A man who featured in a viral story as being involved in an initiation ceremony to “cleanse” young girls by having sex with them, has been arrested.
Malawian Eric Aniva had been arrested on President Peter Mutharika’s orders, a government spokesman has told the BBC’s Focus on Africa radio programme.
He said Mr Aniva, nicknamed “hyena” for his role in the initiation, would be prosecuted for violating children’s rights.
He also said that the president was disturbed by the revelations made in the story and has vowed to crackdown on the cultural practice.
The man revealed in the feature that he had had sex with more than 100 girls and that he was HIV positive.
The sex cleansing practice is a traditional custom endorsed and funded by some communities in southern Malawi but the government has been trying to stop it.
