National News

Family threatens to kill murder suspect if given bail

 

A family in Ngabu, Chikwawa has threatened to take the law into their hands if police releases 24-year-old Ephraim M’bumpha, who was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion that he killed his two grandparents on Tuesday night.

There was a sombre mood on Wednesday evening in Nankumba Village in Sub-Traditional Authority Masache in the district, where hundreds of people gathered to bury Wilfred M’bumpha, 96, and his sister Tchayi, 86.

Gresham narrates the sad story

In an interview after the burial, Lawrence M’bumpha, elder brother to the suspect,expressed shock at his brother’s hacking of the two elders with a panga.

“This is inhuman and unacceptable anywhere in the world. How can someone have the courage to kill his own grandparents?  As a family, we are ready to take the law into our hands if they [law enforcers] release him,” he said.

Maureen Gresham, who was staying with Tchayi, said the suspect asked his uncle David M’bumpha to escort him to the deceased’s houses, where he hacked them.

Malawi Network for Older Persons’ Organisation (Manepo) executive director Andrew Kavala has condemned the barbaric act, saying his organisation will ensure that justice prevails.

He said his organisation plans to lobby Parliament for an Older Persons Act.

In 2016, four elderly villagers were killed in Neno by their relatives for being suspected of bewitching and killing a 17-year- old family member. Another elderly woman was also killed in Mulanje for the same harmful misconception.

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