In the early hours of late May, three intruders forcefully entered the modest dwelling of Nicole Soalala and her family in Toliara, a coastal city in southern Madagascar. Her husband attempted to confront them, but they violently assaulted him with a wooden object and an axe.
Soalala, age 32, quickly grabbed her youngest daughter, Landricia, an 18-month-old with albinism, securing her on her back with a piece of fabric. Meanwhile, her eldest child, aged 15, took refuge under a table alongside her two younger siblings, aged six and three.
As her husband lay incapacitated on the floor, Soalala sensed the attackers’ focus shifting toward her. “I felt they were coming for me, and I braced myself for the worst,” she recounted. “But then, the one wielding the axe began to try to pull my child away.”
In a desperate attempt, Soalala tightened the fabric around her daughter, resisting the man’s demands. “Let the child go,” he insisted, and when she refused, he threatened, “Let the child go, or we will kill you.” Growing impatient, the assailants forcefully took Landricia and fled.
Soalala pursued them, crying out for assistance. “The pain in my heart was unbearable, and I collapsed about 100 meters away, outside the large, faded red gates of a school,” she recalled.
Days later, authorities discovered Landricia’s decapitated body at a witch-doctor’s residence, while her head was found wrapped in plastic within a suitcase at a nearby location.
According to Albinos Madagascar, an organization dedicated to advocating for individuals with albinism, Landricia was one of 13 individuals with the condition who have been murdered in the country this year, marking a record high for such killings. All victims were beheaded, and the vast majority were children aged between nine months and 14 years. “This situation is dire and extremely cruel,” stated Fulgence Soja, president of the organization and someone who lives with albinism. “We are facing numerous significant challenges and feel profoundly unsafe.”
Albinism, a genetic condition that reduces melanin levels in the skin, hair, and eyes, occurs in all ethnic groups and often results in poor vision and an increased risk of skin cancer. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of albinism is notably high, with some countries reporting rates of more than one in 4,000 individuals, as per the World Health Organization.
Individuals with albinism face severe dangers, including ritualistic killings, sexual assaults, and mutilation in various African nations, fueled by harmful superstitions that claim their body parts can bring wealth, political power, and good fortune.
In Madagascar, the eyes of individuals with albinism are particularly coveted, with children being prime targets due to beliefs that their innocence enhances the potency of any potion made from their remains. Their vulnerability also makes them easier to abduct.
While many are aware of these atrocities, open discussions remain rare. Witch-doctors interviewed by the Guardian denied any familiarity with the beliefs associated with individuals with albinism, suggesting that such ideas originate from “external” influences.
This alarming trend of violence against individuals with albinism is relatively recent in Madagascar. Soja noted that he first heard of a beheading involving someone with albinism in 2017. Reports of such killings began reaching Muluka-Anne Mitti-Drummond, the UN independent expert on albinism, in 2021.
“Between late 2020 and 2022, we documented over 28 cases of attacks, most of which targeted children. I was deeply concerned,” she stated, having visited Madagascar the following year to compile a report on the situation.
Mitti-Drummond found that the profiles of the assailants varied widely, encompassing victims’ relatives, local residents, outsiders, and cattle raiders. “Most perpetrators are motivated by the intent to sell body parts or exploit individuals with albinism for financial gain,” she noted. “In many instances, only the intermediaries are apprehended while the orchestrators of the attacks remain unidentified.”
Substantial financial incentives are offered to those willing to kill a child with albinism and extract their eyes, often involving complex networks. Violence tends to escalate during election periods, with sources indicating that influential figures, including high-ranking politicians and business leaders, may be behind some of these murders.
Madagascar ranks among the poorest nations globally, with around 80% of its populace surviving on less than $2.15 a day. Since gaining independence from France in 1958, the nation has endured political unrest, contested elections, and coups. In October 2025, popular protests led to the ousting of President Andry Rajoelina, after which Col. Michael Randrianirina declared himself the leader of a transitional government expected to last 18 to 24 months.
The country is also acutely vulnerable to climate change, with droughts, floods, and cyclones resulting in loss of life, displacement, and destruction of crops and infrastructure. An impending lean season and the El Niño phenomenon threaten to exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition in the southern region this year.
Sabina Lauber, a senior human rights advisor to the UN in Madagascar, believes that the targeting of individuals with albinism is rooted in these dire circumstances. “Madagascar is one of the few places globally where every development and wellbeing metric has deteriorated over the past decade,” she emphasized. “Simultaneously, the population has surged, leading to a desperate fight for survival.”
