The Principal Resident Magistrate Court in Malawi Friday sentenced four men, including a police officer, to a 15-year jail term for possessing human bones believed to be of persons with albinism.

The four, aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in April 2018 in the eastern border district of Machinga where they were found with bones believed to be of persons with albinism.

They were charged with being found in possession of human tissues, and selling or buying human tissues.

Local pathologist Charles Dzamalala, testified in court that upon examination, found that the bones were human bones and belonged to two different male persons.

The court convicted the four describing the offences as "heinous and immoral", before slapping them with the 15-year jail term.

Cases of ritual attacks and killings of persons with albinism for their body parts have been common in Malawi since 2013.

Over the years, more than 20 persons with albinism have been killed in Malawi with over 165 reported cases of attacks, abductions and exhumation of graves of remains of persons with albinism.