Police in Dowa are keeping in custody a man who is accused of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl.
Public Relations Officer for Mponela police station, Inspector Kaitano Lubrino, has identified the girl as Foliya Paulo, a standard 6 learner at Nkhamanga Primary School.
According to Lubrino, the girl’s father reported that on 27 February, 2020, his daughter paid a visit to their relatives at Mphangala village in the district.
Lubrino further said that reports indicate that after the visit, the girl left the village in the company of two friends who later returned to their home.
The suspect, whose name has been withheld by police, found Foliya alone and he dragged her into a Soya bean field where he raped her before strangling her to death.
Foliya’s body was found in the Soya bean field on the following morning (28 February 2020) by passersby.
Police and medical personnel from Mponela Rural Hospital visited the scene and the postmortem results indicated that Foliya was raped before being strangled to death.
Foliya Paulo, 16, hailed from Mantchichi village in the area of Senior Chief Dzoole in Dowa district.
