LAHORE: A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to three months hard labour for spreading rumours of vampires after convicting in Malawian court, according to TRT World. Police have said around 140 suspected members of vigilante mobs have been arrested for targeting people accused of vampirism. At least nine people have been lynched in a wave of attacks. The mob struck Blantyre, the country’s second-biggest city, torched one person and stoned another to death, the local media reported. The mob attacks began in mid-September in four districts in southern Malawi, where belief in witchcraft is widespread. Police said that a heavy contingent of police have been deployed in different cities, amid to control the mob for further spreading. President Peter Mutharika has also been visiting parts of the country affected by the violence. The United Nations and US embassy have blacklisted several districts in Malawi as dangerous zones for staffers and nationals. Earlier this month, the UN pulled staff out of two areas in southern Malawi.