Mangochi woman, baby drown in Lake Malawi

A 25-year-old woman and her three-week old baby have drowned in Lake Malawi, Mangochi Police Station has confirmed.

The police station’s deputy spokesperson Amina Daudi identified the woman as Brenda Francis.

She said the incident happened on Sunday morning at Mwawa Fishing dock in the district.

She said preliminary investigations indicate that the woman had family wrangles with his husband since the birth of the child. She said on Saturday evening, the woman and the baby went missing.

“When the husband came home from his fishing errands on Saturday, he found his wife writing a letter,” said Daudi.

She said the husband quizzed her about the letter and was she reportedly responded that it was addressed to the landlord.

The wife sneaked out a few minutes later with the baby and, according to Daudi, the two never returned home.

She said: “Her body was later found floating on the lake with the body of the baby strapped on her back.

“Police officers who visited the scene and the home of the deceased found a note indicating that she had committed suicide because of family matters and that she did not want her child to suffer when she died; hence, taking her along.”

She said post-mortem conducted at Mangochi District Hospital found that both the woman and the baby died due to suffocation.

The woman and the baby came from Makaka Village, Traditional Authority Ganya in Ntcheu.