Hospital amputates remaining hand of Mulanje as court adjourns case
A court in Mulanje has transferred and adjourned a case in which two police officers are facing negligence and grievous harm charges of a 13 year old boy who had his right arm and all fingers amputated.
As First Grade Magistrate George Chimombo of Mulanje Magistrate’s Court transferring the case to the senior Resident Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, doctors at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre were amputating the left hand of the boy.
The two law enforcers, Frackson Chigalu and Charles Mbewe, allegedly kept the boy in their hands for four days with both hands tied with a rubber belt.
Magistrate Chimombo said he has just exercised his conscious to transfer the case to the upper court in pursuance of Section 74 of the Criminal Proceedings and Evidence Code.
One of the lawyers, counsel Brenda Khwale of the Centre for Human Rights, Education, and Assistance (CHREA), applied to adjourn further commencement of the trial of the case due to the deterioration of the condition of the boy, who he said is the principal witness in this case.
Magistrate Chimombo has tentatively adjourned the case to May 6, 2024.
Guardian of the boy at the hospital Mayi Rhoda is appealing to wellwishers for help, saying the patient is in need of basic things including food.
