Police in Lilongwe have arrested a primary school teacher for destroying and ransacking houses belonging to a family he accused of bewitching his son.
According to the Deputy Public Relations Officer for Lilongwe police station Sergeant Foster Benjamin, the suspect, Hesini Manase, a teacher at Kakwera primary school in the area of Traditional Authority Chadza, was netted on 6 March, 2020, while his three other accomplices are on the run.
Benjamin further said that Manase’s son on 5 March, 2020, allegedly stole a Guinea Fowl egg from the house of a villager, Kandeni Kaliyekha, and out of anger, Kaliyekha apprehended and beat up the boy.
This did not please the father of the son (Manase) and he confronted Kaliyekha for a fight.
Benjamin added that later in the afternoon, the boy got sick and was taken to Mitundu Health centre where he died, a development which sparked anger as some people suspected that Kaliyekha had bewitched the boy.
On Friday, Manase and other three people, while in Gulewankulu attire, led a mob and descended on the house of Kaliyekha and destroyed it. Additionally, they also ransacked the houses of Kaliyekha’s relatives at Mchokhwe village.
Police have since arrested Manase and levelled against him malicious damage and theft charges. A man-hunt for the other three suspects is underway.
