Police at Monkey Bay in Mangochi have arrested three people for allegedly charging a woman with witchcraft, detaining the woman and assaulting her.
Monkey Bay Police Station Publicist Alice Sichali identified the suspects as Dereck Kadango, 28, Sumelina Kadango, 30, and Pofera Michael, 58, whereas the victim is an elderly woman from Machilika Village. All people hail from Traditional Authority Namkumba in the district.
Sichali said that the incident happened on November 6, 2022 at Kasankha Village in Traditional Authority Nankumba in Mangochi District.
She added that the victim is very old and stays alone at her home village, Machilika.
On this particular day, the suspects sent Emma Kadango aged 20, of Kasankha Village, to to take the victim to Kasankha Village on the pretext that there was a parcel for her at the Village.
“When Kadango arrived back at Kasankha Village, the suspects detained the victim in a house and started whipping her with the aim of forcing her to confess that she practises witchcraft and that she is the one bewitching their relative who has been bedridden for a month.
“Later, the suspects released the victim who reported the matter to the Village Headman, who referred her to police,” Sichali explained.
She went on to say that the victim was later referred to the hospital where she was treated as an out-patient.
Working on the complaint, police arrested the suspects who all come from Kasankha Village in Traditional Authority Nankumba in Mangochi District. They will appear before court soon to answer charges levelled against them.
Police are therefore appealing to the general public to desist from taking the law into their hands.
