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| National |
| Mzimba man loses private parts |
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by
Edward Nyirenda, 26 September 2006
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08:48:24
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A 54-year old man is languishing at Mzuzu Central Hospital after his private parts were removed by assailants on Saturday night.
Police in the northern district of Mzimba have since arrested five suspects who were found with private parts suspected to have belonged to the victim.
The five were caught at Champhira in the district.
According to Mzimba Police public relations officer Simon Maele, an unidentified man came to the victim’s house at Nowa Mkochi Village, TA Mzikubola at around 5 pm, asking if he could take the victim, Leonard Chirwa, to a bottle-store for a drink.
“Chirwa accepted and the two went out. However, Chirwa did not return, causing anxiety among his relatives,” said Maele.
The police publicist said some villagers early on Sunday morning heard the sound of somebody crying in a nearby pit, only to find Chirwa lying in a pool of blood in agony.
“When the people looked at the man closely they discovered that his private parts had been removed. Then they reported the incident to police and the man was quickly rushed to the Mzuzu Central Hospital,” said Maele.
He said police immediately launched investigations into the matter. With the help of the community, police arrested a 27-year-old carpenter Kennedy Kampala Phiri at Champhira Monday after some people noted something suspicious about him.
“He was blood-stained and carrying a suspiciously looking black handbag. People followed and asked him about the blood stains. Then they took away his handbag, only to find male private parts in the bag. They quickly took him to the police,” said Maele.
He said police arrested Phiri alongside two teenage boys who were with him at Champhira.
The boys—aged 19 and 18 (names withheld)—are Form Two students at Jenda Community Day Secondary School.
“After further investigations, the three revealed that they were going to sell the private parts to Kambani Azelo, a businessman who sells rice at Champhira. We also corroborated that the private parts belonged to Chirwa,” said Maele.
He said police arrested Azelo, 32, at the trading centre.
According to Maele, police also arrested Brave Shaba, 48, one of the two teenagers’ father, in connection with the matter.
“We suspect the elder Shaba is involved in this conspiracy. This Shaba has a carpentry workshop at Jenda where Phiri works. If that is not enough, his own son was also involved…but we are still conducting investigations,” he said.
Asked whether police have established what Azelo wanted to do with the body parts, Maele said they are still conducting investigations.
Chirwa told reporters at the hospital Monday morning that he could not recognise the attacker as he was blindfolded.
He said the attacker ambushed him on his way from the drinking joint.
“He hit me with an axe at the back of my head and then cut off my private parts. He removed everything. I fainted and only regained consciousness in the early hours of Sunday.
“Upon regaining consciousness, I felt a lot of pain and started crying,” said Chirwa, who also has a deep cut at the back of his head.
Azelo and Phiri come from Dowa in the Central Region while the rest of the suspects hail from Mzimba.
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