Mzuzu, June 10, 2015: Police in Mzuzu are keeping in custody a 28 year old woman for allegedly concealing a birth of her baby at Masasa Township in the city, Police have confirmed.
Speaking to Malawi News agency (Mana), Mzuzu Police Publicist Martin Bwanali confirmed the development, saying the suspect Tawona Shonga dumped her baby in a pit latrine after giving birth on Friday last week.
He said people from Masasa Area, especially the women knew that Tawona was pregnant but they were surprised to see that the status has changed. This then compelled the elders to question her on what had happened to the pregnancy.
That was when she confessed that she had delivered and dumped the baby in a pit latrine, police said.
“The suspect gave birth at Masasa area but she threw the baby in a pit latrine; the issue was reported to the police who went to the place and recovered the dead body of a baby,” Bwanali confirmed.
It is not clear what forced her to dump her child in a pit latrine but police say Tawona was still breast feeding another child who is one year and seven months old.
Tawona Shonga who comes from Chikudula Village in the area of Traditional Authority Mtwalo in Mzimba District will answer the charge of concealing the birth of a baby which is contrary to section 232 of the penal code and attracts a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment with hard labor (IHL).
Meanwhile the police are still waiting the postmortem results from Mzuzu central hospital.
