Chingola Death leads to riot

CHIKOLA residents in Chingola yesterday rioted and damaged a house of a woman who allegedly brutally murdered her neighbour’s three-year-old son and threw the boy in a well.
The residents were incensed when word went round the township that Musonda Mwansa, 28, had allegedly beaten the boy to death and, to conceal the crime, dumped the body in a well.
Copperbelt police commissioner Joyce Kasosa said Mwansa has been arrested and police have picked up the suspect’s 9-year-old son, who narrated how his mother allegedly killed his friend while he watched.
Ms Kasosa said Mwansa was arrested on Thursday night and would appear in court soon.
“Yes, we have arrested a woman. She’s alleged to have killed a three-year-old boy and threw his body into a well; this is a sad development,” she said.
Ms Kasosa identified the minor as Ben Muleya Junior.
She said Mwansa has claimed that she was too drunk to remember what happened on the fateful day, but the police are still interrogating her.

The boy’s father, Ben Muleya, said Mwansa got the child without his consent.
Narrating amid sobs, Mr Muleya said he returned home from work around 17:00 hours and found the boy.
He said later Mwansa went to his house to pick the boy to go and play at her house, as often happened but this time around, he did not grant her permission.
“The first time she asked my son to go to her house and play I said no. Even on the second attempt, I refused, but later, I discovered that my son was not around,” he said.
Mr Muleya said around 20:00 hours he went to pick his son from Mwansa’s house but she claimed ignorance of his whereabouts.
“When I reported the matter to police, her son revealed that Ben was beaten on the head several times by his mother. And when he stopped crying, she threw him in the well,” he said.
Mr Muleya said that when he saw his son’s body in the well, he was so grief-stricken that he wanted to throw himself in the well, but on-lookers restrained him.

He and his family watched helplessly until officers from the fire brigade came to retrieve the boy’s body from the well, which is secured with concrete.
When the fire brigade left, the angry residents ran amok and broke part of the wall at the suspect’s house.
Some people took advantage of the confusion to loot household goods from Mwansa’s house.
Police, who went to the scene, could not initially restrain the angry mob but eventually kept them at bay after being reinforced by more officers.
Further police action helped quell attempts to loot the shop belonging to Mwansa’s husband in Malemba Market in Chiwempala.
Meanwhile, a five-month-old baby has died in a road accident in which two children and five adults suffered injuries, KAWANGA SHIKANDA reports from Livingstone.

The accident happened when a Noah mini-bus they were travelling in had a tyre burst at Kabuyu near Zimba.
Zimba district commissioner Elizabeth Kalaluka, who visited the scene of the accident yesterday, said the baby died on the spot and that one of the injured men is in a critical condition.
From Choma, CHOMBA MUSIKA reports that a 33-year-old man of Siandavu farms in Kalomo drowned in a well on Tuesday.
And a man in his 80s is battling for his life in Choma General Hospital after he sustained burns in his house.
Southern Province commissioner of police Mary Chikwanda confirmed both incidents.
In the Kalomo incident, Ms Chikwanda identified the man who drowned as Oliver Madubanse and that police have ruled out foul play.
Ms Chikwanda said the body of the deceased is in Kalomo District Hospital mortuary awaiting an autopsy.

Zambia Daily Mail