A HIV infected man has told how he is paid to have sex with girls once they reach puberty in his remote village in Malawi.

Eric Aniva is paid from £3 to £5 to have sex with girls over a three-day period after their first menstruation.

If they refuse it's believed their families or even the whole village will be cursed.

But Aniva's job is not classed as rape - instead it is called 'sexual cleansing'. And he is known as a 'hyena' rather than a sexual predator.

'Some girls are just 12 or 13 years old, but I prefer them older,' Aniva told the BBC.

'All these girls find pleasure in having me as their hyena. They actually are proud and tell other people that this man is a real man, he knows how to please a woman.'

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Eric Aniva is paid from £3 to £5 to have sex with girls once the reach puberty in southern Malawi

'Hyenas' are hired by village elders to carry out 'sexual cleansing' in traditional kusasa fumbi initiations in several parts of southern Malawi.

When questioned about the morality of the cruel practise, one female elder told the BBC: 'We have to train our girls in a good manner in the village, so that they don't go astray, are good wives so that the husband is satisfied, and so that nothing bad happens to their families.'

Aniva claims to have slept with over 100 women and girls in his paid role, which also sees him have sex with widows before their husband is allowed to be burried.

Aniva's wife Fanny said she hates the ritual, which was carried out on her when her first husband died.

One girl who was forced to sleep with Aniva said she only agreed because she was 'scared'.

Maria told the BBC: 'If I'd refused, my family members could be attacked with diseases - even death - so I was scared.'

Aniva claims to have had sex with over 100 girls and women since he started working as a 'hyena' in 1985

He is hired by village elders to carry out 'sexual cleansing' in traditional kusasa fumbi initiations

The 'sexual cleansing' practice is still carried out in southern Malawi despite attempts to end it

Shockingly Aniva said he would not allow a 'hyena' to sleep with his own daughter.

He has claimed that he is now 'stopping' the practice.

Charity organisations are working towards stopping the socially sanctioned gender-based violence through education.

Dr Howard Kasiya, health expert and director of the Adolescent Girls' Advocacy Network of Malawi, told the Guardian that being to undergo 'sexual cleansing' is 'often a death sentence for girls'.

'Malawi has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world and 10 per cent of the population is HIV-positive,' Dr Kasiya said.