Chikwawa communities smash police unit in mob justice

Communities from Traditional Authority Makhuwira in Chikwawa on Wednesday smashed a police unit in demand of the release of a murder suspect who allegedly hacked to death a two-month-old baby.

According to Chikwawa community policing coordinator Mark Munama, the commotion erupted when the suspect, Kaitano Mangani, who accrding to communities had a mental illness, found the baby’s mother Jennifer Mike, 24, in her farm and hacked her.

Said Munama: “The mother took her baby with her to her garden. While there, she saw Mangani passing by with a panga in his hands. He approached the woman and without saying a word he hacked her finger, then her shoulder and her back.”

According to him, when this was happening, the baby was asleep the ground in the garden.

“She started shouting for help and left her baby behind. It was at this time that Mangani saw the baby lying asleep and hacked it on the forehead. Other people who were working in nearby gardens captured Mangani and took him to Makhuwira Police Unit,” explained Munama.

He said the baby was pronounced dead on arrival at Makhuwira Health Centre. This angered the communities who mobbed the police unit, baying for the suspect’s blood.

“The mob later broke into the cell where the suspect was kept and beat him up severely. It took police officers from Chikwawa Police Station to rescue the suspect and restore order,” he said.

The suspect, from Mangwalala Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Khwethemule in Thyolo District, died a few hours later at Chikwawa District Hospital from deep cuts he suffered from the beating.

The baby’s mother, who comes from Zaonenji Village, T/A Makhuwira in the district is admitted to the same hospital.