Blantyre police rescues 21 trafficked children

Police in Blantyre, Malawi, have today morning rescued 21 children of the ages between 15 and 18 at Wenela Bus Depot as an alleged child-tracker was taking them to Mangochi to work in his tobacco estate.

The children are reportedly from Mozambique near Mulanje Border.

The alleged trafficker has escaped but police are keeping his accomplice identified as 40-year-old Mateyu Sali Kuchepa from Mangochi.

Blantyre Police station officer senior assistant Brenda Nkhoma said police received information from a well-wisher that a certain man is in the bus depot and is ferrying the children to work in his tobacco field and that is when police officers went into the depot and rescued the children.

According to one of the rescued children who is 17-year-old, the man who they were going to work for has run away and the one arrested is just his relative who was travelling with them.

He said all of them had consent from their parents and guardians as the man promised them good money that could have ended their poverty.

The children, all boys, were complaining of hunger at the time of the interview as they said the last meal they had was lunch on Tuesday.