Police in Jenda, Mzimba, have arrested a woman and her accomplice, suspecting that they were planning to send the woman’s 14-year-old granddaughter to South Africa to marry another man there.
Police spokesperson for Jenda, Macfarlen Mseteka, reported that the woman, Maureen Yiombe, is 66 years old, while the man involved, Mayeso Phiri, is 24, both hailing from the Inkosi Mzukuzuku area.
Mseteka stated that the two used a fake National Registration Bureau (NRB) letter showing false ages to obtain a permit for the girl to join the family.
On Sunday, September 29, the day the girl was supposed to leave for the trip, she informed local police who then arrested the two individuals. They face charges of forcing a minor into marriage and attempting to arrange for someone else to be married.
The man in South Africa is said to have already provided a cow as a dowry and had sent money for the girl’s travel expenses.
