Police in Mchinji have arrested a 39 year old man, Tifanji Raphael believed to be a psychiatric for allegedly hitting to death his wife with an axe.
The deceased has been identified as Sofilet Banda aged 36.

Mchinji Police Station Public Relations Officer, Kondwani Kandiado told Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Tuesday that the suspect who was at large was arrested on Sunday and is expected to answer murder charges.

“Facts are that during the morning of March 19, 2020 a neighbour went to the deceased’s house to borrow a mat. The neighbour had found a four year old child who told her that the deceased was sleeping,” he said.

Kandiado said when the deceased did not respond to the call, it prompted the neighbours to get into the house and were baffled to see the deceased lying in a pool of blood unconscious, with a deep wound on her head.

The PRO said during interrogation by Mchinji Police detectives, the suspect had revealed that he had committed the offence because the deceased was involved in extra marital affair with another man from the same village.

He added “The deceased was then referred to Mchinji District Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival”.

Post-mortem report conducted at the hospital revealed that death was due to severe head injuries.

The deceased hailed from Chadzanga Village, while the suspect comes from Chamoto Village both in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Nyoka in Mchinji