Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News

Three ghoulish criminals have dragged a seven-year-old albino girl out of her bed and into a bush outside where they chopped off her left hand for an witchcraft ritual.

The incident took place in the farming area of Mutupa near the city of Kitwe in northern Zambia at around midnight while the albino victim was sleeping in the same room as her sister.

According to a police statement, the unidentified criminals forced their way through the victim’s bedroom window and dragged her outside to a nearby bush.

The seven-year-old girl, whose name has not been disclosed, had her left hand chopped off with a machete just above the elbow, according to reports.

Local media said that the girl’s parents were sleeping in another room when they heard screams coming from the girls’ bedroom.

When they went to check, they saw three men dragging their daughter, who is a top-grade student at the Mutupa Community School, into the bush.

According to the parents, one of the men had a machete and when they called out to the group, they chopped her lower arm off and ran away with it.

The police believe the hand may have been taken for use in a witchcraft ritual, according to one local media report.

Meanwhile, the young victim is being treated at the Kitwe Teaching Hospital as the police investigation continues.

Police are investigating. No arrests have been made at the time of writing.

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