Malawi Police arrest 14 members of Balaka criminal gang: ‘Ziwanda Crew’

Police at Balaka district, eastern Malawi have arrested 14 members of a gang calling themselves ‘Ziwanda crew’ following an assault on a 17-year-old girl at Majiga location in the district. But police say the gang leader, known as Rasta Zibaba and other members are still at large.

According to the victim, the suspects who are aged between 13 and 17 beat her up her while others were touching her private parts but she said she managed to free herself after she cried for help and wounded one of the gang members.

“Police managed to arrest one suspect who upon interview confessed that he is a member of gang calling themselves Ziwanda crew a development that forced the Police to launch a man hunt and managed to arrest the other members, ” says Balaa spokesperson Inspector Joseph Sauka .

Sauka says Ziwanda crew which was based at Mangerengere location is gang of over 20 members of which 6 are girls and most of them are at Primary School and only a few are in Secondary School.

“The gang convenes day and night in uncompleted house where they smoke Indian hemp, drink beer and do all thoughts of nasty things; and from there they go to the streets at night where they beat up everyone they come across and causing public nuisance by shouting obscene words in the streets,” says Sauka.

He says all the suspects will appear before court upon completion of the investigations where they will answer a case of Indecent Assault which is contrary to section 137 sub sections 1 of the Penal code.

Meanwhile, the police is appealing to parents and guardians to monitor their children because most of these arrested are School going children and were leaving their homes as if they were going to School but never showed up according to reports from their respective Schools.