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Couple accused of selling son, arrested

Police in Dedza have arrested a couple for allegedly selling its 12-year-old son to a Mozambican family.

Dedza Police Station spokesperson Edward Kabango said Jemitala Alfred, 23, is a stepfather to the victim and reportedly convinced his wife, Mary Benard, 30, to sell the boy.

An illustration of an arrest

“It is in police records that a Mozambican family came to Malawi in April this year to meet a certain herbalist to find out the cause of its child’s death back home in Mozambique. By this time, Jemitala was also at the herbalist’s house,” he said.

Kabango said that the herbalist, who is on the run, told the Mozambican clients to visit him the following day with an assurance to resurrect their dead son.

Kabango said: “Upon learning this, Alfred rushed home and told their son to accept the particulars of the deceased in the presence of the Mozambicans, which he did and was taken to Mozambique as a boy who had resurrected.

He said the Mozambican family was charged K1.5 million which it paid.

When the victim’s uncle asked about the boy’s whereabouts, his mother failed to give convincing answers, said Kabango.

“Sensing danger, Alfred and the herbalist went to Mozambique and brought back the boy to complete the transformation ritual,” he said.

The boy narrated his ordeal to his uncle, leading to the arrest of his parents, who have since been charged with human trafficking.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

The couple comes from Traditional Authority Kamenyagwaza in Dedza.

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