An 11-year-old boy is in pains at Chiradzulu District Hospital after relations tied his hands with a rubber strap on allegations that he stole a solar panel.
The boy’s mother from Milepa Village in the district said some relations reported to her on Friday, February 16, 2024, that they suspected that her son had stolen the gadget.
The following day, they apprehended him, whipped him, upon which he admitted to have stolen the solar panel and that he had sold it.
“They did not give me chance to take care of him. They tied his hands at the back. He was left in that situation the whole night and I reported the matter to our chief the following morning,” she said.
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The mother said the boy was severely injured.
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According to her, the relations further threatened her against reporting them to police.
“They said I should tell the police that the boy had been injured by some unknown people or that I had injured him myself so that they should not be arrested over the issue,” she claimed.
A hospital report says the boy has suffered septic wounds.
Child rights activist Memory Chisenga has called upon the police in the district to hold accountable all those involved in the boy’s torture.
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“Why should people gang up against a child and torture him in that way?” She wondered.
Ruth Kaima, Litigation Officer at Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (Chreaa), said the rise in cases of abuse of children shows a continued lack of knowledge on the part of some communities of the laws on handling of children deemed to be in conflict with the law.
“There are procedures specifically for children so that they are protected from the harms of society,” Kaima said.
As we went to press, Chiradzulu Police Station was yet to make any arrests.
The incident comes few days after revelations of a 13-year-old Mulanje boy who was injured by police officers after they had kept him in police cell for days with his hands tied at the back with rubber belts.
Following the injuries, the boy lost his right hand and two fingers in the hand to amputation at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH).
