St Peters Private Secondary School student is in police custody for allegedly forging a friends’ Identification Card (ID) during the ongoing Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) Examination.

Mzuzu Police spokesperson Maurice Chapola confirmed of the arrest of Benson Gondwe, 20.

According to the police, the suspect erased an ID number on the friend’s card and wrote his ID number instead, because his 16-year-old friend is “intelligent” and that he could make it to college.

“In a well calculated move, Gondwe asked to have a look at his classmate’s identification card; he then took the card to some unknown place where he erased the original number on the card and put his number instead,” said Chapola.

According to Chapola, the truth came out when the suspect reportedly failed to sit for Physical Science because he did not register for it. This gave room to the supervisor to establish that the victim was using a wrong ID as it indicated that the number was absent on the candidates’ register.

The suspect has been charged with forgery contrary to section 335 of the Penal Code.

Gondwe hails from the area of Traditional Authority Mtwalo in Mzimba district.