Police in Dedza are keeping in custody a woman who is suspected to have killed her own son for stealing K400.

According to Dedza Police Deputy Publicist, Sergeant Cassim Manda, the suspect, Alinafe Navisi aged 40, fled to Mozambique, after murdering her 10 year old son, James Banda, last week.

“Banda who was a standard 3 learner at Kalilang’anga primary school, was accused of stealing K400 belonging to his sister.

“He was initially reported as a missing person but later his body was discovered buried in a pit a few metres from his house,” said Manda.

He said Navisi who was arrested by Mozambican police has been officially handed over to Dedza police station, where she has been charged of murder contrary to section 209 of the penalcode.

During police interrogation, Navisi confessed to have seriously injured her son while whipping him.

“Navisi said that the boy fainted whilst being whipped and she took him outside her house and buried him in a nearby pit,” Manda said.

His death was only confirmed later after conducting a postmortem which revealed that the boy’s death was due to suffocation.

Meanwhile, Dedza police have hailed their Mozambican counterparts for helping to arrest Navisi.

The suspect hails from Mlangali village in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kachere in Dedza district.