More than 80 dead over ‘genital theft’: How a bizarre rumour has fuelled violence in Africa

A man goes to a restaurant for lunch. Minutes later, he is dragged outside by a crowd, beaten and left fighting for his life.

His alleged crime? The mob believed he had somehow stolen another man’s genitals. This was not an isolated incident.

A bizarre belief that a person can make a man’s penis or testicles shrink or disappear simply by touching him has triggered a wave of violence across parts of Africa. The BBC Global Disinformation Unit was the first to report the scale of the crisis, finding that more than 80 people were killed between October 2025 and July 2026 following false accusations of so-called “genital theft”.

The rumours have been reported in eight countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya. The BBC’s death toll, however, was compiled from police data across six countries.

What is the ‘genital theft’ claim?

The allegation sounds bizarre: a simple touch, sometimes described as a tap on the shoulder, can supposedly cause a man’s genitals to shrink or disappear.

Videos circulating online have shown men claiming that their penis or testicles have vanished or become smaller after coming into contact with strangers.

Those accused are then confronted by crowds, who demand that they return the supposedly stolen body parts.

The belief is not entirely new. The BBC reported that similar accusations surfaced in DRC as far back as 2008. The latest wave appears to have begun in the Central African nation before spreading to other parts of the region.

But the consequences this time have been deadly.

‘We had no way to escape’

Tanzanian mechanic Boniface Mgala experienced the violence first-hand. On 1 April, Mgala and a friend travelled to Tunduma, a city in the Songwe Region of Tanzania, to meet a client about a car sale. They stopped for lunch. Soon afterwards, a crowd dragged them outside.

“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,” Mgala told the BBC.

He was beaten so badly that he lost consciousness and woke up in hospital two days later. That is when he learnt that his friend had been killed. “It still hurts me deeply when I think back to the senseless manner my friend died because I still don’t know what was going on,” he added.

Mgala was left with scars on his face, a missing tooth, and a limp. He also suffers from persistent headaches and has not been able to return to his work as a mechanic. “If I had known how close I would have come to death on that day, I wouldn’t have gone into that restaurant to eat,” he told the BBC.

A man was beaten and set on fire

Photographer and businessman Michael Silavwe witnessed another attack in Tunduma that same day. He saw a man accused by a crowd, then beaten, and set on fire.

“After they set him on fire, the police arrived at the scene, and everyone scattered and ran away,” Silavwe told the BBC.

The BBC Global Disinformation Unit verified video of the attack. The footage had been viewed more than 100,000 times on TikTok and Facebook and showed a group beating the man while demanding that he return the allegedly stolen genitals.

“Those incidents kept escalating, and people kept getting beaten,” Silavwe said.

The rumour mills in overdrive 

The belief has emerged in places where fears surrounding witchcraft and other longstanding superstitions remain widespread. Social media has made such rumours travel fast.

Instead of hearing a story, people can now watch videos of someone claiming that the alleged crime happened to them. They can also watch crowds confront and attack people accused of carrying it out.

Social media is a double-edged sword. While some online creators have warned people to remain vigilant, others have promoted charms said to protect against genital theft; some comedians have parodied the claims.

It remains unclear whether all those sharing the content actually believe in the superstition or whether are using these incidents to garner attention and engagement.

Mozambique recorded the worst violence

Mozambique has suffered some of the deadliest attacks linked to the rumours.

Police said in May that 55 people had been killed in six weeks. Those killed included a police officer, healthcare workers and civil servants.

President Daniel Chapo condemned the violence, reiterating that the claims of genital thefts were false. The government said it had found no medical evidence that anyone had lost a body part, the BBC reported.

Authorities also suggested that some of the fears could be connected to Koro syndrome, a mental illness also known as missing or genital retraction hysteria.

Kenya and Malawi also saw deaths

The violence spread to Kenya, where five people were killed by mobs in the coastal counties of Kwale and Mombasa.

Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Noor blamed some content creators for spreading the claims. “Such misinformation can easily lead to loss of life,” Noor told the BBC.

Police made 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, similar accusations fuelled mob attacks that left eight people dead.

The BBC Global Disinformation Unit found dozens of videos and recordings linked to the phenomenon circulating on TikTok and Facebook. They included alleged first-person accounts, warnings, commentary and footage of mob violence.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that it was reviewing content brought to its attention and would take action against material found to violate its policies.

For now, the superstition continues to plague the continent, with social media making the situation worse.

With input from agencies