Hyena Man Gets Two Years

Eric Aniva doesn’t have your typical office job. He earns money as a “hyena man”, which is someone who is hired to have sex with women and young girls to rid their body of evil spirits. It doesn’t make any sense and was almost certainly thought of by a dude.

Aniva says he has had sex with over one hundred women and girls, posing a problem because he’s HIV positive. While this might sound like a pretty classic New England custom, this story actually takes place in Malawi. Aniva stands by his behavior, and apparently thinks his services really work. So much so that nine percent of the entire country is HIV positive. You can’t argue with the results.

This had apparently been going on for quite some time, yet people weren’t really hip to it until he appeared on a BBC documentary. It’s still unclear where the term ‘hyena man’ comes from, but clearly it sounds really menacing and African. Following the BBC show there was a bit of an outcry and Aniva has now been sentenced to two years in prison. Seems kind of light. Once he gets out I’d love to talk to him about an apprenticeship. Unclear if the magic still works if you’re HIV negative. 

Photo Credit: BBC