Couple arrested for killing child over Mozambican charms

Police at Nathenje have arrested a couple for strangling to death their 2 year old son in order to use his body for charms to get rich at Chikuwa Village TA Chitekwere

The suspects have been identified as Ivy Elinati (mother) 25 and Mphatso Nalinde (stepfather) 25 while the deceased is Lusha David

It is said that the couple conspired to kill the child after striking a deal with a certain Mozambican witch doctor not yet identified who promised them to get rich if they brought to him the boy’s dead body for charms.

Last week the couple said their goodbyes to friends and family at the husband’s home village where they used to stay, saying they were departing for Mozambique to visit other relations

Yet, in mind had a secret evil mission, to kill the child on their way to Mozambique as per agreement with the witch doctor

The, after walking some kilometers they went into the bush where they strangled the boy’s neck to death

However, when the couple later phoned the magician informing him that they killed the boy and were on their way to meet him, the witchdoctor excused himself saying that it should not concern him anymore, claiming that the couple flouted some necessary rituals before killing the boy, hence rendering the body useless for charms

“The couple returned home with the dead child where they lied saying that the boy just became unconscious and died while wrapped to his mother’s back,” Hastings Chigalu

However village elders were not convinced and became suspicious which prompted them to alert police

postmortem of the body at Nathenje Health Centre revealed that death was due to suffocation, secondary to strangulation

The mother hails from Chimbwala Village TA Mlonyeni in Mchinji while the father from Chikuwa Village TA Chitekwere in Lilongwe District.