The police in the Southeastern African nation of Malawi said it arrested more than 1,300 men in the country in 2015 for incest, defilement of minors and related offences.
A police spokesman, Nicholas Gondwa blamed the trend on the effects of superstition, which is aggravated by the activities of soothsayers and witch doctors, News24 reports.
In Malawi, many believe that having sex with a family member or a minor could bring instant wealth.
A man was recently arrested for having sex with his 17-year-old daughter and impregnating her.
“The superstitious man sweet-talked his daughter that they would become rich if he had sex with her. The daughter succumbed to her father’s demand. The secret is now out because the daughter is pregnant,” Kingsley Dandaula, a police spokesman, said.
The secret was blown open when the man’s wife of 18 years pressed her daughter about the unborn child’s father.
After her daughter told her she was impregnated by her father, the disgusted woman went to the police to lodge a complaint and he was picked up on incest charges.
“We are arresting many people because of superstition-related incest and defilement cases. The rate of sexual offences is scary,” Gomdwa said. “Those who for the reason of superstition or male chauvinism will continue to engage in sexual offences should realise one thing: having sex with minors is not a passport to riches but an automatic passport to jail. We will continue arresting them.”