Six women among those arrested for beating suspected wizard to death
POLICE in Nchelenge District of Luapula Province have arrested six women and four men for taking part in a mob killing of a 63-year old grandfather they suspected was a wizard.
Aaron Mwansa was accused of having had a hand in the death of his niece who died last August after a short illness.
On October 10, the old man was on his way to the local market in Matandiko Village when a mob suddenly decended on him unleashing kicks, punches, slaps and whatever else their limbs could manage to inflict pain on the helpless old man.
The man’s cries of pain and innocence fail on deaf ears.
After subjecting the defenseless man to the savage beating, the mob dragged him back to his grass-thatched house, tossed him in and set it ablaze from the entrance.
As the flames consumed the house, Mwansa somehow managed to escape and ran to a nearby lake but the villagers who were hell-bent on ending his life pursued him.
Too tired to use their limbs to inflict more pain, the mob members resorted to stonning Mwansa until he breathed his last.
Police officers who rushed to the scene found Mwansa’s body lying in a pool of his own blood partially burnt with deep cuts on his face.
After days of intense investigations, police stormed the village in the early hours of yesterday and arrested 10 people in connection with Mwansa’s murder.
Six of those arrested are women while the rest are men.
Zambia Police deputy spokesperson Danny Mwale said the deceased’s body was buried after postmortem while the suspects are in police custody.
Moses Makwaya
Kalemba