Tomb-breaking: a thriving business in Madagascar.

It might appear unusual but in Madagascar, even dead persons constitute potential sources of incomes to some people. To be more precise, the body or specifically the bones of the dead persons are being stolen by some individuals directly from their tombs, and then sold by the same individuals to fences who, in their turn, sell the stolen goods to a network of potential clients. Though nobody has so far been able to provide accurate information about the utility of these human bones, everybody knows that the act of stealing them exists, is not a new phenomenon in Madagascar, and generates a great deal of money.

Recently, the tomb-breaking phenomenon has greatly intensified and affected many regions of Madagascar, especially the eastern and the south-eastern ones. For example, in the first week of October, the districts of Mananjary and Vangaindrano were the scenes of many oacts of tomb-breaking. As for the district of Mananjary, for example, four tomb-breaker, who were apprehended by the “Fokonolona” (the local popualtion), confessed that they have broken a dozens of tombs in this district. At the time of their apprehension, these tomb-breakers were about to sell the humn bones they have stolen to a fence for the price of 400.000 Ar per kilo.