Chilobwe Township residents demand justice
Residents of Chilobwe Township in Blantyre on Monday gathered outside Chilobwe Police Unit to demand the arrest of suspects who at the weekend allegedly murdered a tailor in the area.
The residents said the tailor, Joseph Beni, 34, from Phenduwa Village, in Traditional Authority (T/A)Mpunga in Chiradzulu, had sewn a dress for a certain woman who took the dress without paying.
Later when the tailor went to claim his money, the woman and her boyfriend allegedly disagreed with Beni, which resulted in the tailor being beaten to death.
One of the irate residents who asked for anonymity said: “All we want is for justice to prevail, they [police] should find the people who did this.”
However, in a separate interview yesterday, Blantyre Police Station deputy spokesperson Andrew Mayawo contradicted the residents, saying the tailor was not killed, but fell off a bridge and hit his head against rocks.
He said: “He was dating a 15-year-old girl and, on the day of his death, he had been chatting with the young girl near Namwili River. He wanted to take the girl to his home, but she refused.”
Mayawo said when some boys heard the two quarrelling, they stopped to ask what was going on.
He also said when the girl explained why they were quarelling, the boys threatened to take him to police and that is when he started to run away.
He Mayawo said: “The deceased was drunk, so when he approached the bridge, he tripped and fell over. That is what caused his death, not what is being said.”
