Zingwangwa stolen baby found in Mbayani
The baby who was stolen at Zingwangwa Health Centre has been found in Mbayani, Blantyre, allegedly with a couple identified as Edward and Nancy Lamulani.
The mother of the child, Bridget Taombe, 20, lost her baby when she went for a check-up at the health centre.
One of the couple’s neighbours, Rose Chammudzi, said she reported the couple to Village Head Mbayani after she noticed that the baby they claimed to be two days old was more than a month old.
She said she saw that the baby’s naval had already fallen and it was able to bend its neck, which was unusual for a two-day-old.
Said Chammudzi: “My neighbour was pregnant, but no one expected that she would give birth any time soon because the pregnancy was in its early stages. Now, I am even wondering whether she was pregnant because she might have been faking it so that people should not get suspicious when she comes home with a baby.
“I did not see her breastfeeding and the child was heavy. I once saw her secretly carrying baby formula and the couple did not have baby basics such as nappies and baby shawls and I became very suspicious.”
Blantyre Police spokesperson Lameck Thembachako said they arrested the couple on January 7.
“The Lamulanis claimed that the baby was born on December 2 2012, but the baby’s biological mother, Taombe, said she was born on December 4 2012. We took the couple to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and after medical tests, it was confirmed that the baby was not theirs,” said Thembachako.
A medical officer who did not want to be mentioned said vaginal, breast and abdominal tests are done on a woman to establish if she is a mother of a baby as young as a month old.
