Mzuzu, April 12: Police in Mzuzu have arrested a 51-year-old man for allegedly deserting his 11 children leaving them without anybody to take care of them.
Mzuzu Police deputy publicist Sergeant Patrick Saulosi confirmed the arrest on Friday. He said Feston Simbeye, a resident at Luwinga, was for sometime a sole provider and caretaker of the children after his wife left him following marital problems.
Saulosi said Simbeye later abandoned the children and married another woman and moved with her to another location in the city.
“Upon noticing for two months that the father was not supporting the children, the suspect’s fifth daughter Myles Simbeye, 14, reported the matter to the police,” he said.
“The children indicated in their report that they were lacking care and support from their father hence they decided to report the matter to police and we launched an investigation and arrested the suspect,” Sergeant Saulosi added.
He further said currently the abandoned children are living with their grandmother who is struggling to fend for them.
Simbeye, who was working as watchman at Catholic Security Service, hails from Kanyara Village Traditional Authority (TA) Mwenewenya in Chitipa District.
According to Saulosi, Simbeye will answer a charge of deserting children contrary to section 164 of the Penal Code which attracts a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment with hard labour (IHL).
