By Isaac Salima & Thomas Kachere:
Students at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) in Blantyre have decried escalating cases of attacks on students outside the campus.
President of the Students Executive Council Wyson Vinthenga said, since the opening of the first semester last month, six students have been attacked.
He said the students, mainly those who stay outside the campus, have been targeted by thugs and street-connected children along the Masauko Chipembere Highway.
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“The attackers have been stealing money, smartphones, laptops and other things from the students.
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“We convened a meeting on Monday, when we came up with solutions such as holding patrols where, when we catch the thieves, we will ether hand them over to police or see what to do with them. Students who reside outside the campus are the main target of the thugs,” Vinthenga said.
He further asked the authorities to consider building more hostels to accommodate more students.
“As at now, the institution has over 6,000 students and only over 1,000 are being accommodated at the campus. This means that majority of students are at risk of these thugs,” Vinthenga said.
Blantyre police publicist Peter Mchiza urged the students to be reporting cases of attacks to police.
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“We only hear, through social media, about reports of attack as people do not come forth to report to us when they are attacked or see someone being attacked. We cannot arrest anybody because we need evidence.” Mchiza said.
In a related development, South-West Region Police has said that their leads are showing that a Mubas student who is receiving treatment after being attacked may have been attacked by fellow students.
Spokesperson for the region, Beatrice Mikuwa, said this after “noting that people, including those on social media, are pointing fingers at street-connected children as suspects”.
Mikuwa said officers from the Criminal Investigations Department are on the ground to corner those responsible for the ill action to answer their case.
“It is true that a student from Mubas was attacked but speculation that he was attacked by street-connected children is far from the truth. We want to tell people that it is not street-connected children who committed this offence.
“We are suspecting that he was attacked by fellow students because the incident happened within their campus, after [students had] an activity. We have been told that the victim wanted to sleep and that that is when he was attacked within the same campus. That is why we are suspecting that his fellow students might have done this and we are investigating the matter,” Mikuwa said.
