Mulanje woman burns son’s hands over chicken piece, ‘Chinyomphilo’

A 38-year-old woman in Mulanje district is currently in police custody for allegedly burning her son’s hands over a stolen piece of chicken.

The incident, according to police, occurred on Saturday 23rd January, 2016.

Mulanje police Publicist, Gresham Nkhwazi told Nyasa Times,  that on the day, Julita Matias had gone to the garden with her husband leaving the victim, Kingsley Mame 9 years old, at home.

And upon returning home at 6pm, Matias found out that a piece of already prepared chicken (chinyomphilo) had been stolen.

“So she suspected the child had eaten it, and she started whipping him,” explained Ngwira. “Later on she decided to burn the kid’s hands and as he was trying to escape, she instead, took a burning charcoal and pressed it on his mouth”.

The victim was not taken to the hospital for three days until his brother, Noel Mame, 16, reported the matter to the village headman who later on took up with the issue with Namulenga police unit.

Ngwira said the law-enforcers managed to arrest the mother who is currently in custody.

Julita Matias hails from Majikuta village in the area of Senior Traditional authority (S/T/A) Mpunga in Chiradzulu district.