Malawi Police arrest 18 students at Robert Laws Sec School

Police in Mzimba have arrested 18 Robert Laws Secondary School students for allegedly damaging school property worth millions in protest against the  school’s management to suspend some students who had committed various offices.

The 18 arrested students are accused of destroying windows from the Staffroom Block, Biology and Physical Science Labs and setting curtains on fire, police in Mzimba have said.

Mzimba Police Station Public Relations Officer Gabriel Chiona disclosed that some 10 students were suspended last Friday on different offenses, a decision that did not go down well with their colleagues, who in the name of solidarity ganged up  as one way of forcing the school management to rescind their decision, but it did not work out to their advantage.

The Mzimba Police Station Publicist has said that the arrested students will appear before the Court of Law soon to answer charges of malicious damage which is contrary Section 344 of the Penal Code.

If found guilty and one fails to pay a monetary fine when imposed, the convict can get up to five years Imprisonment with Hard Labour.

Cases of students damaging school property have been common in recent years but the un fortunate part of it is that the students are usually ordered to pay for the damages despite languishing in police cells and missing out on education calender.