Police in Chitipa district are keeping in custody a 20-year-old man, Oswald Kayange for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl before strangulating her to death.

According to Chitipa Police Public Relations Officer, Gladwell Simwaka, the incident occurred Thursday April 4, 2019 around 1:00 p.m. at Ilanga Village in Traditional Authority Mwaulambya in the district.

“The deceased, identified as Fyness Simfukwe, was sent to a nearby market to buy some groceries and on her return, she met the suspect who grabbed her and took her to a bush where he defiled her.

“Some villagers who were passing by the same road heard screams from the forest and found the suspect strangling the girl who was unconscious then and they captured the suspect,” explained Simwaka.

He further explained that the villagers informed the police who arrested the suspect, but the girl was pronounced dead upon arrival at Chitipa District Hospital with a post-mortem showing that she had died due to suffocation.

The girl’s body was laid to rest on Friday, April 5, 2019 at Kadoli Village in T.A. Mwaulambya in the district.

The suspect will appear before court to answer charges of murder contrary to Section 209 of the Penal Code which attracts a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, and another charge of defilement contrary to Section 138 of the same.
 
Kayange hails from Ilanga Village in the same area of T.A. Mwaulambya in Chitipa District.