A 29-year-old woman is in Police custody at Kanengo police station in Lilongwe for allegedly injuring a standard three pupil of Good Hope Primary School in Area 25 on Tuesday.

The woman, Memory Banda who stays close to the school is said to have stoned the girl on her forehead for trespassing on her potato garden as she was coming back from school.

Deputy Head teacher of the school, Yamikani Nyambo confirmed the incident saying it happened around noon when school children used Banda’s sweet potato garden as a short cut.

“Pupils who witnessed the incident said the eight-year-old fell unconscious after being hit by stones from Banda on the forehead as she tried to pass through the garden to get to the other side of the road,” said Nyambo.

Banda told Mana in an interview that she threw stones at the pupils with the intentions of scaring them. She said she did not mean to hurt the girl who is now recovering at home.

“I have been restricting pupils from passing through the garden for seven days now but they seem not to understand. This caused me marital problems. I tried scaring them away with stones but I did not mean to injure any of them,” said Banda who comes from Ntanila village T/A Kaomba, Kasungu district.

Kanengo police spokesperson Esther Mkwanda in a separate interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) confirmed arresting Banda for injuring the girl who sustained a deep cut on her forehead.

“We have charged Banda with unlawful wounding which is contrary to section 241 of the penal code and it attracts a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment if found guilty. She will be taken to court on Thursday,” said Mkwanda.mana