A 47-year old businessperson, Robert Benito Malika, owner of Wonders Private Secondary School at Area 18 in Lilongwe has committed suicide by overdosing on anti-diabetic drugs at a lodge.

Meanwhile, Malawi Police Service (MPS) cautions social media users against spreading fake news and refrain from disinformation particularly on matters that touch on security after distorted information about Malika’s death started circulating on social media where it was claimed that he was murdered and that his vehicle was found in Salima.

MPS records show that Malika, who had a history of attempting suicide, killed himself in a room at a lodge at Njewa in Lilongwe during the night of Friday, 15 February 2024. The police also found his vehicle there while investigating his whereabouts.

It is on record that Malika left home at Area 18 in the morning of Friday, February 15, 2024 and did not come back. His wife reported about his missing to Lingadzi Police Station after efforts to trace his whereabouts proved futile.

The owner of the lodge reported the matter of the death to police on Saturday, February 17, 2024 after noting that Malika did not come out of a room he booked a day before even after check-out time and several knocks on his door.

A team of police investigators who visited the scene in the company of a medical practitioner from Kamuzu Central Hospital found a tablet of anti-diabetic drug and a half full bottle of water next to the body. Postmortem results of the body revealed that Malika died of over-dosage of the said drugs. He hailed from Chamasowa Village, Traditional Authority Chimaliro in Thyolo.

MPS assures Malawians and Lilongwe residents in particular that security is tight. The Service is implementing both proactive and reactive security strategies to ensure that every resident in Malawi is safe and secure at all times.