Police in Mulanje have arrested a 32-year-old man for killing his 3-year-old niece over a land dispute.
The man, Richard Mphito, is suspected to have killed the girl on Wednesday by hitting her on the forehead with a metal bar.
Sub Inspector Gresham Ngwira, spokesperson for Mulanje Police Station, said the girl’s mother told police that the suspect apportioned his piece of land to her three years ago.
She was using the land until Wednesday morning when she was confronted by her brother to stop cultivating the land.
In the morning, the woman went to the said land to cultivate and carried her 3-year-old daughter.
This led to a quarrel whereby the suspect told his sister that he could kill both her and her 3-year-old child who was at her back.
Mphito hit the child on the forehead with a metal bar and the kid became unconscious.
She was immediately taken to Chambe Health Centre for treatment where medical personnel pronounced her dead upon arrival.
Following the report, police visited the scene of the crime and arrested the suspect.
Postmortem done at the facility singled out head injuries as the cause of death.
Mphito is expected to appear before court soon to answer an offence of murder contrary to Section 209 of the Penal code.
Richard Mphito comes from Nengwele village, Senior Chief Mkanda in Mulanje district.
