Live: In a corner of Tunduma, Tanzania, mechanic Boniface Mgala was dragged from a local restaurant and brutally beaten by a mob that shouted, "We stole somebody’s genitals!" The mob claimed the man’s genitals had vanished after a simple touch, a rumor that has spread across eight African countries.
According to the BBC Global Disinformation Unit, more than 80 people have died between October 2025 and July 2026 as these baseless accusations—termed “genital theft” rumours—flooded social media. The unit sifted through police data from Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Eyewitness footage from TikTok and Facebook shows men surrounded, beaten, and at one point set on fire by angry crowds insisting they must return “stolen” genitalia. Smartphone videos give the rumours an immediacy that makes them hard to debunk; viewers see men weeping, describing their genitals as shriveled, and witnesses standing stooped in disbelief.
Officials in each affected country have stepped in: Mozambique police reported 55 killed in six weeks, including a police officer and health workers; Kenyan authorities arrested a father and son who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman accused of making men’s genitals disappear. Police patrols and public anxiety‑reduction campaigns have been rolled out, but the death toll is still climbing.
One survivor, a tailor named Asha Steven Mwakilasa, says the rumours continue to haunt her, even as hospitalised victims recover. Her husband and boys remain away, and she remains on the brink of panic, grateful for police patrols that keep the streets safer.
This outbreak echoes past incidents of witchcraft superstitions that sparked violence—like the 2008 Congo famine rumours. Experts say the speed at which internet videos circulate heightens panic, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to intervene before mobs ignite.
