Suspect on remand in Malawi police cell commits suicide

A suspect who was answering charges of trafficking 89 bags of indian hemp was on Thursday found dead in a police cell in Salima after he allegedly committed suicide by stabbing himself with an object in the stomach and chest.

Salima police spokesman Gift Chitowe identified the deceased suspect as Alex Juma.

Chitowe said the 27 year suspect was transferred from Nkhotakota Police Station after he constantly harassed and caused havoc among other suspects, saying he beat some of the suspects remanded with him at Nkhotakota Police station.

“We suspected he had a mental illness probably due to depression so we decided to transfer him to Salima Police Station where he was put in isolation cell,” said Chitowe.

Juma, who hailed from Mataka Village in Chief Likoswe village in Chiradzulu was arrested on December 7, 2015. Chitowe said a postmortem showed Juma died of severe bleeding.