Police arrest Balaka woman for concealing birth

Malawi  Police in Balaka have arrested a 26 – year – old woman identified as Florence Petulo for suspecting her to have concealed birth of a child.

Balaka Police Public Relations Officer, Edith Kachotsa said Petulo a divorced mother of three, fell in love with a certain man and in June, last year she became pregnant but the man denied responsibility.

“Although the denial traumatized her, the woman decided to keep the pregnancy until April 18, 2018 when her labour began,” the police publicist said.

Kachotsa alleged that the suspect silently left the house for Luwawazi River where she gave birth to a baby boy and dumped it in the running waters.

“When she returned home, she lied to her grandmother that she had miscarried the pregnancy when she visited the toilet,” she added. “Two days later some boys who had gone fishing at the river found a dead body of a baby boy floating in the river.”

Kachotsa said the boys reported the matter to Village Head Malula who made efforts to trace the suspect and she voluntarily admitted to be the mother to the deceased.

“Later the village head reported the matter to Balaka Police Station,” said Kachotsa.

Kachotsa disclosed that a medical examination conducted at Balaka District Hospital confirmed that Petulo gave birth a few days ago while postmortem of the dead baby established that death was due to suffocation.

The publicist, therefore, said Petulo who comes from Malula Village in Traditional Authority Nsamala in the district will appear before the court soon to answer a charge of concealing the birth of a child.

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