Malawi Police arrest Indian for assaulting worker at Al-Badar Hardware

A shop attendant working for Al-Badar Hardware in the city of Lilongwe is admitted at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) after being beaten severely by his Indian boss on Tuesday on suspicion that he stole some second hand trousers which they sell outside the hardware shop.

Charles Pukuta on his hospital bed - pic by LINA
Charles Pukuta on his hospital bed – pic by LINA
Al-Badar Hardware closed to business on Tuesday after the incident - pic by LINA
Al-Badar Hardware closed business on Tuesday after the incident – pic by LINA

The shop attendant, Charles Pukuta, 28, speaking to Lilongwe News Agency (LINA) with difficulty from his hospital bed because of the pain, said he was tied up and beaten by his boss without questioning him at Biwi location in Lilongwe.

“The boss tied me up and started beating me without questioning, and later the boss was joined by his son, both beating me. It took about an hour beating me with sticks before police rescued me otherwise I don’t know what would have happened of me if police did not come,” explained Pukuta who has worked with the shop for three years and rose to the position of head shop attendant.

He said the trousers in question were found hidden behind the shop but no one knew who hid them there. It is said that Pukuta as head shop attendant was the prime suspect otherwise, it was claimed, he should have seen the culprit or noted the shortage.

Security guards working for neighbouring shops who witnessed the incident said that they could hear the beating from the shop and urged other Al-Badar shop attendants to shout for help if something fishy was happening inside their shop.

“The shop attendants did not do anything possibly afraid of dismissal till some people wanting to buy the second hand clothes alerted police who did not take time to come on the scene and intervened,” said one of the guards.

The guards continued saying that when the police brought the victim out of the shop, he couldn’t walk, sit himself or speak; his right hand had been broken. He was rushed to KCH by police as they bound the shop owner on his way to Lilongwe Police Station.

The security guards confided that soon after the arrest of Salim Ahammed,49, people who were buying the second hand clothes, especially women, declared the clothes free for all claiming that the Indians were beating one of their brothers as a reason. They said the women and other passers-by scrambled for the clothes and no worker at the hardware tried to stop them.

Lilongwe Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Inspector Kingsley Dandaula confirmed the incident.

“On Tuesday morning, the employee who is a salesman at the shop went to work as usual, later during the day the shop owner started accusing the salesman of stealing and hiding clothes from the shop.

“The salesman denied the allegations but the shop owner was not convinced up to the extent of tying the employee with a rope and started hitting him with a wooden rod until he broke his right hand arm, said Dandaula.

He said Ahammed has been charged with grievous harm contrary to Section 238 of the Penal Code. He is expected to appear before court soon.

The Police identified the salesman as Charles Pukuta, 28, from Chakhoma village in the area of Traditional Authority Chiwalo in Phalombe district.  – Additional reporting by Maston Kaiya, Mana

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reasonable man
reasonable man
8 years ago

madongo amapneka ngati iweyo.

Pure Activist
Pure Activist
8 years ago

WORKERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HELD…………IN THIS CASE WAS THE MAN GIVEN THE CHANCE TO BE HELD? NO…….I HERE BY FIND THE PERPETRATOR GUILTY…………….LIABLE TO IMPRISONMENT

Mondongo
Mondongo
8 years ago

Ine sinnalkumanepo ndi mu indian moyo wanga ose, amaoneka bwanji???????

Hussein
Hussein
8 years ago

He who has the gold makes the rules, you guys calling yourselves “anthu ” aka a humans, implying that the rest who are not black are not Munthu are the ones who are racists! We have the money, your leaders get money from us, once we get hold of this economy, which will happen! You just watch! You are finished, you will have no say, if we are rats! You will be the coackroaches

mphatsodaniel
8 years ago

indedi amalawi kupusa inu mtundu wathu wachichewa lilongwetu ndiku capital mumalekelela zinthu komanso mumakonda kusunga zisinsi simufuna kudzudzula makamaka anthu obwela mumawasekelela kwambili ukutu ndikupusa one ndine nchewa achewa anzanga dzukani musamasekelele zopusa

Winston Msowoya
Winston Msowoya
8 years ago

Iam working with a number of Indians in a white man’s film,these people look at Africans as useless human beings and yet they are in Africa in millions exploiting our people,smuggling forex in billions and are the most racists creatures I have ever seen in my life.come abroad and see what your hard-earned money does in Britain,Canada and the USA.Indians are dangerous mosquitoes and the most corrupt in the World.They have neatly put our so-called leaders into their hands and there,they can do any damage to our resources and they will go scot-free.Some people say that a good Indian is… Read more »

Phwado
Phwado
8 years ago

Zakuba zinabedwa nad the Indian is also a human being.He feels the same pain just as blacks do.Koma mukanakhala inu wina ataba mukanamuotcha.Stupid inconsiderate Malawians!How many innocent suspects have you torched so far?

Victim of misery
8 years ago

Stupid people kumangoyang’ana nzanu akuphedwa ndi anamachende amenewa azimayi omwe mwatenga zovala za ulele mwachita bwino awa ndi anthu omwe akuyenela kumaotchedwa nosense mwandinyasa kwambili anthu aku lilongwe makamaka azibambo

James Tsamwa
James Tsamwa
8 years ago

Why don’t malawians gang against these stinking creatures and deal with them? Government should also bring in sound labour laws and make sure that no exploitation takes place.

Jambo
Jambo
8 years ago

@10, Indians pose as clean people. Yet they are just like any other person. And they treat blacks like second class people. This guy shud serve custodia sentence. Nothing like fine.

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