Four arrested over mob killing in Lilongwe

Police in Lilongwe are keeping in custody four people for allegedly inciting a mob that killed a 40-year-old woman over the death of a boy.

Sub Inspector Joseph Kachikho who is Public Relations Officer for Lilongwe Police Station said the four suspects were arrested on Tuesday.

He identified the suspects as Fred Karonga, 25, from Kawere village, Traditional Authority Chadza in Lilongwe, Malitino Livitiko, 25, also from Kawere village, Fred David aged 45, of Nkhukwa village Traditional Authority Kalumba in Lilongwe and Mphatso Kapatuka aged 31 of Mwenda village, Traditional Authority Chadza in Lilongwe.

“The four suspects will appear in court soon to answer a charge of murder,” he said.

The 40-year-old woman Lustica Chibudula was killed on Tuesday last week at Nkhukwa Village in Traditional Authority Kalumba.

Prior to this, on November 1, a 15-year-old boy, Winston Chitsulo, hanged himself with a necktie after his father refused to give him a bicycle for a ride.

Following his suicide, police officers from Chitsime Police Unit took the body to Kamuzu Central Hospital for postmortem examination.

The results showed the death was due to hypoxia secondary to hanging and burial was to take place on Tuesday.

However, one of the deceased relatives disputed the postmortem results, claiming the boy had been bewitched by his uncle.

The relatives started hunting for the uncle to revenge the boy’s death.

While searching, a woman with hysteria ( majini), who was among the mob, was seized by her condition which lasted for some minutes.

When she regained her senses, she informed the mob that the boy had not died and that he was being kept in the house of a certain woman.

Shortly after making the claims, the hysterical woman, coincidentally, spotted a certain boy ( name withheld) who was coming from school. She pointed at him as the purported boy who had died.

Immediately the mob started chasing after the boy and he went straight into his mother’s house.

The mob pounced on the mother, Chibudula, and demanded their ‘son’ back while heavily assaulting her.

They took her to a village headman while stripping her naked but she died on the way following the assault.

Police took the dead body to Kamuzu Central Hospital for postmortem.

Chibudula came from Fitoni Village, Traditional Authority Kaphuka in Dedza District.