Father shoots son to death, Malawi police arrest him

A 17-year-old boy Harnet Matchado has died after his father accidentally shot him with a pump gun in Mulanje.

The police have since arrested the father Victor, 39 as investigations surrounding the incident are underway.

The district’s police spokesperson Gresham Ngwira said preliminary information indicate that on Thursday; the father who is a security guard at Thuchila Tea Estate was knocking off from work and upon approaching his home with the gun, his children requested to carry the weapon as one way of welcoming him.

He said after the deceased had got hold of the gun, his sister also demanded that she carries it- a thing that ensued into some disagreements between them.

“Seeing this, their father started intervening in the situation with the aim of taking the gun from the two. In the process, he unfortunately pulled the trigger shooting the deceased on the shoulder,” said Ngwira.

He said the child who was a form two student at HHI in Blantyre died on the spot.

Following the incident, Ngwira said police visited the scene of the incident and carried the dead body to Mulanje district hospital for postmortem.

He said the police are therefore advising all those using guns in their work places not to leave such dangerous weapons in the hands of children or untrained people as this may lead to the loss of innocent
lives.

The father hails from Jemusi Village while the deceased came from Mpando Village both in Senior Chief Mabuka in the district.