Man murders ‘cheating’ girlfriend in Mzuzu, tells police ‘satanists killed her’

A 20 year-old man is being kept in police custody reportedly for murdering his girlfriend, Joyce Nkhoma, 34, whom he thought was cheating on him.

The man, Mphatso Phiri, was , according to neighbours, cohabiting Joyce in the city’s densely populated Masasa area.

Mzuzu police publicist, Edith Kachotsa, who confirmed that Phiri was being held in custody, said the arrest follows a postmortem at Mzuzu Central Hospital that revealed that Joyce died of strangulation.

Kachotsa said the results were contrary to what the suspect had told the police and his neighbours on the cause of death of his girlfriend.

Said Kachotsa: “When he knocked off from his business early this week he found his girlfriend out of the house. This angered him. He then decided to follow her to the nearby trading center and found her.

“During the night they started quarreling to the extent of fighting each other. The suspect alleged that the girl stabbed him on the buttocks and in revenge he assaulted her to death.

“But the following morning after killing her, he had called a friend and told him that Joyce had been killed by satanists.”

Phiri, who hails from Chamba village in the area of Traditional Authority Malengachanzie in Nkhotakota, will appear before court soon to answer murder charges.