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More than 80 people have been killed across African countries amid false “genital theft” rumours spread through social media.
Police officers patrol a street in Tanzania. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE/REPRESENTATIVE)
For close to a year, at least eight African countries have been grappling with violence linked to bizarre claims of so-called “genital theft” spreading on social media. The misinformation has spread via TikTok and other social media platforms and even drawn condemnation from a world leader, but distressing videos of people being marched before mobs, pleading as a crowd descends on them or being stoned to death show that these attacks continue, leaving scars on those who survived as well as on the societies affected.
The development was first reported by the BBC and its Global Disinformation Unit. It said that more than 80 people were killed between October 2025 and July this year following false accusations linked to what is termed “genital theft” across six countries.
The report said the rumours appeared to have started last year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where similar claims had surfaced in 2008. They then spread across Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania as well as Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya.
“They were shouting that we had stolen someone’s genitals and we didn’t have any way to escape because there was a huge crowd,” Tanzanian mechanic Boniface Mgala was quoted as saying by the BBC. He survived the wrath of an irate mob convinced he had stolen penises and testicles.
He and his friend had gone into Tunduma on April 1 to meet a client about a car sale and decided to eat lunch beforehand. They had not long sat down in the restaurant when they were dragged outside by a mob.
Origin Of The Rumour
Mgala and several others across these eight countries who found themselves begging for their lives are victims of mob anger stemming from claims that their genital organs — penis and testicles — have vanished or shrivelled after coming into contact with strangers. The mob then gheraos them, demanding that they return the supposedly stolen genitals.
Some of these claims are rooted in local, long-held fears and superstitions, and these beliefs are not new to Africa, where there are communities that believe in witchcraft. Add some TikToks, Shorts and Reels to the frenzy, and you have digital users turning into a formidable mob of real people.
In Zambia, the rumours about disappearing genitals first gathered momentum in March, when a woman was lynched. From there, the panic crossed the border into Tanzania, carried by the same whispers and videos that had begun turning suspicion into violence.
In Dar es Salaam, one such video shows a crowd marching a man through a dusty market street. They push, grab and strike him, demanding that he return the genitalia he was accused of stealing, while he pleads his innocence.
The incident is part of a much larger digital trail. Dozens of videos showing mob violence, alleged first-person accounts, warnings about supposed attacks, commentary and clips presented as reports from particular areas have spread across TikTok and Facebook.
Videos Of Mob Lynching, Superstitious Claims Still Online
Many of the videos analysed by the UK-based broadcaster’s disinformation verification unit, including some showing mob attacks, remain online.
The scale of the violence is perhaps clearest in Mozambique, the worst-hit country, where police said in May that 55 people had been killed in just six weeks. Among the dead were a police officer, healthcare workers and civil servants.
Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo publicly condemned the rumours and the deaths, insisting that the claims were false. The government, he said, had found no medical evidence that anyone had actually lost any part of their body.
Authorities also sought to explain why some people might believe that they had. As part of a public health campaign, the government said some of the fears could be linked to Koro syndrome, a mental illness also known as genital retraction hysteria, in which a person believes their genitals are shrinking or disappearing.
The violence has not stopped. The latest reported incidents have come from Kenya, where mobs killed five people in the coastal counties of Kwale and Mombasa.
After the first incidents were reported in July, Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Noor blamed some content creators for spreading the claims in pursuit of engagement, “simply to attract views and attention”.
The consequences, however, have gone far beyond views and clicks. Noor said the police had contained the violence and made several arrests, including a father and son who were each sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman they accused of causing men’s genitals to disappear.
In Malawi, too, the same rumours have had a deadly outcome, with mob attacks linked to the claims leaving eight people dead.
About the Author
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a chief sub editor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over seven years of experience during which he has …Read More
Dodoma, Tanzania
September 03, 2026, 7:49 PM IST
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