An unidentified sex worker plying her trade at Kaphatenga Trading Centre in Salima died in the wee hours of last Saturday, leaving her three-year old child stranded, district social welfare officer, Fedda M’bwana, has confirmed.
In an interview on Wednesday, M’bwana said that her office, in conjunction with the police, has failed to trace her original home let alone relatives because the sex worker used to hide her identity during her stay at the centre.
She disclosed that a postmortem by Salima District Hospital revealed that the sex worker died of asthma.
“We’ve tried to announce her death and features on the radios, but no one is coming to claim relationship to her. We’re in a dilemma because the child she’s left is too young and we don’t know where to take him to.”
M’bwana stated that on the night of April 3 2015, the sex worker picked a quarrel with roommates and a bartender and was forced to seek refuge from Edith Chirwa, who rents out houses a few metres across the road.
Chirwa reluctantly offered her accommodation for fear of tarnishing the image of the compound.
“I don’t entertain sex workers into my compound. But on humanitarian grounds and having looked at her situation, I allowed my security guard to accommodate her in one of our unoccupied rooms. I could believe the following morning to hear that she’s passed on,” said Chirwa.
M’bwana said she has entrusted the child into the hands of Ekwam Community-Based Organisation (CBO) while her office hunts for the relatives of her late mother.
