Newspaper article from March

Here is a newspaper article from March that I dug up. I'm not posting this as a value judgement, but merely to highlight the realities of Malawian Life. Not everyone believes in witchcraft, but a lot of people do. Also, you can get a strong sense of the values present through the style of reporting.

2 children die in inferno, mothers arrested

Two sisters have stunned people of Mondiwa Village, Traditional Aughority Machinjiri in Blantyre after they allegedly threw their two children on a raging fire on Saturday - burning them to death - claiming the children were practicing witchcraft.

The sisters - Agnes Kamanga-Gadama, 30, and Catherine Kamanga, 23 - are also alleged to have locked up their four children (including the two who died on Saturday) in their house for a week without food, saying (the mothers) were praying and fasting to rid their children of witchcraft.

The tortured children are Mayankho Gadama (9), Martin Gadama (7), James Gadama (3) and Pemphero Phiri (eight months). Agnes is mother to the first three while Catherine is parent to Pemphero.

Mayankho and Martin died in the inferno while James and Pemphero were rescued from the ordeal by villagers who rushed to the house after getting suspicious.

The two mothers have since been arrested and as of yesterday morning they were being held at Bangwe Police Station.

According to Limbe Police spokesperson Chifundo Chibwezo, the sisters - who hail from Nkhotakota - say they are members of a reputable established church (name withheld). “They say as Christians, they decided to pray and fast when their children allegedly confessed to practicing witchcraft.
“According to the neighbours, they would hear some shouting coming from the house but the children were never seen outside [the house],” said Chibwezo.

But things took to a dramatic and shocking turn Saturday afternoon when a passer-by saw the suspects roughly beating up the children outside the house as the smoke was seen inside the house.

“The passer-by rushed to the village elders to alert them about the incident and when people rushed to the house, they found Mayankho and Martin lying dead with burns all over.

“the villagers quickly grabbed James and Pemphero and put out the fire. The matter was reported to Police. James and Pemphero were rushed to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital as they were dehydrated from the fasting and had inhaled a lot of smoke,” siad Chibwezo.

However, in an interview at the Police station yesterday, the sisters denied having killed the children.

“We did not throw the children on fire. We were just praying for them because they confessed they were wizards. While we prayed for them, they would vomit things like vegetables, snails and frogs.

“Strange things were happening. THe wall clock also started talking. Then Mayankho and Martin just fell down,” alleged Agnes, who spoke confidently without stuttering.

But when asked why the children had burns, the two - who did not seem shaken after being shown the pictures of the deceased burnt bodies - just fell silent without an answer.

Throughout the interview, the two remained composed without shading a tear even after the news that Mayankho and Martin did not survive the ordeal.

Agnes’s husband, Gadama, is currently serving a one-year and five months jail term at Chichiri Prison in Blantyre after being convicted of theft last year. Catherine divorced her husband in 2004. The families moved from Nkhotakota to Blantyre in 2003.

As of yesterday, toddlers James and Pemphero were receiving treatment at the hospital after being starved of food for a week. Mayankho and Martin’s bodies were at the mortuary awaiting postmortem.