NRC student beaten to death in police custody

A second year student at the Natural Resource College in Lilongwe, who was in Police custody in Mzuzu for a few days, died a few hours on Sunday at Mzuzu Central Hospital after Police had brought him for treatment, a family relation told Nyasa Times.

When NyasaTimes visited Northern Region Police headquarters where Police top brass and wailing relatives were engaged in talks, the Police had already cordoned off the premises.

Paradoxically, the Police had on several occasions denied the relatives to take the deceased for treatment saying they had their own clinic, according to Layifolo Dikishoni.

Chimwala: No comment. Photo credit: Times Group

“It’s true they beat him because he had a swollen arm and leg and bruises on his body,” Dikishoni told Nyasa Times.

“Each time we came to see him another suspect had to drag him out of the Police cell and also take him back he appeared in great pain and very weak,” he added.

Dikishoni, who works at Ekwendeni Hospital in Mzimba district, said Police arrested the deceased Edison Msiska, 30, on Wednesday, January 25 instead of his brother Ulemu Msiska, whom he said is a habitual criminal.

He said the deceased met his brother Ulemu at the Bus depot and then he asked him to keep his bag, which had a radio.

“Immediately after the deceased took the bag, the Police pounced on him and arrested him

“But on Sunday when I saw him at the hospital I felt pity. In fact he told me before he died that Police had beaten him so that he confesses to string of crimes he was not aware of,” Dikishoni said.

Dikishoni said Msiska’s body is still at Mzuzu Central Hospital because the family has hired the services of Pathologist Charles Dzamalala to do an independent post-mortem.

“After his autopsy that’s when we will make sure that justice takes its course. We want to know who did that and why”, said Dikishoni

Police in Mzuzu are yet to give a statement on what happened to Msiska.

“I have nothing to tell you now. Our bosses are handily the issue now and I have no information,” Northern Police Publicist Norah Chimwala said.

 

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