Mozambique: Penis Theft Panic Leads to 60 Lynchings in a Month

Over the past month, around 60 people have been murdered in Mozambique following accusations of witchcraft. Mobs have been lynching individuals based on rumors that they can shrink or steal penises through a look, touch, or handshake.

The panic began on April 18 in the Cabo Delgado province and has spread throughout Mozambique. The victims of the lynchings include two teachers, a nurse, a police officer, and a government official. Doctors have not found a single actual victim with a “shrunken” or stolen penis. Several men sought help at hospitals with panic-driven complaints, but medical examinations confirmed they were physically healthy. Police have arrested several hundred rioters. The government, led by President Daniel Chapo, officially stated that such thefts are impossible.

Penis theft is a new rumor for Mozambique, though similar witchcraft accusations have historical parallels. During the witch hunts in medieval Europe, people also believed that witches could steal penises, as mentioned in the 15th-century treatise “Malleus Maleficarum”.

Mozambique has experienced mass panics before. During cholera outbreaks, locals killed medical workers, believing they were intentionally spreading the disease through the water supply. This stems from a deep distrust of the elites: the poor believe that the authorities and the wealthy want to destroy them.

Modern anthropologists link the current panic to a social crisis. African youth are stuck in a “waithood” period. Due to mass unemployment, young men cannot find jobs, start families, and become fully recognized adult men. The rumors about genital theft symbolically reflect this fear of social castration—the feeling that a corrupt elite is stripping them of their future and masculinity. Youth protests that swept the country from November 2024 to March 2025 over unemployment and rigged elections highlight the scale of this social tension.