South East Region Police Commissioner Frank Kumukumu says 27 of the 92 suspects detained in connection with the killing of eight people in Chikwawa and Nsanje districts have been charged with murder.
Police three weeks ago arrested 92 people suspected of inciting violence and killing eight people accused of causing the disappearance of private parts of other people, especially men in the Shire Valley twin districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa.
Kumukumu, who made the announcement during a press briefing on Thursday in Nsanje organised by Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) in partnership with the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) and Public Affairs Committee (PAC), asked people in the area to stop the attacks.
He said: “So far the Criminal Investigative Department has finished its work. About 27 have been charged with murder, 25 have been charged with spreading false information, five will answer the charge of citing violence while 30 were deemed innocent and will be released after proper procedures are followed.”
EAM general secretary the Reverend Francis Mkandawire said churches are concerned with what happened in the two districts.
He appealed to Malawians to maintain peace and order and encouraging traditional leaders to engage their subjects to refrain from mob justice.
On his part, PAC executive committee member Sheikh Amiri Jaafar Kawinga said as a God-fearing nation, people should know that both the Bible and Quran condemn murder.
He said: “God gave 10 commandments in Exodus 20:1-14 and one of the laws states that ‘Do not kill’ while in Quaran Surah 5:32 it stipulates that if you kill a person you have killed a nation.
“This tells us that we should not kill one another.”
MHRRC executive director Emma Kaliya asked non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work with police to end the mob attacks.
