PETER SICHALI writes
@SunZambian
A key suspect in a case in which five people of Shiwang’andu District, in Muchinga Province, were arrested for practicing witchcraft and were due to appeal in court on Tuesday, committed suicide and another one was murdered through mob justice.
Both Muchinga Province Police Commissioner, Engineer Joel Njase, and Shiwang’andu District Commissioner, Evelyn Kangwa, confirmed the incidents to The Sun in an interview on Tuesday.
Mr. Njase said, Joseph Kasashi, 59, died on Sunday after committing suicide while the other suspect was killed by an angry mob.
“We have received information that the key suspect in the case of practicing witchcraft is reported to have committed suicide and the other one, of the five suspects, was allegedly murdered,” Mr. Njase said.
And Shiwang’andu District Commissioner, Evelyn Kangwa, said four suspects were attacked by the angry mob after word spread that the key suspect key in the witchcraft case, who was supposed to be before court on Tuesday, had committed suicide after the four other suspects played some magic on him so that he could commit suicide.
Ms. Kangwa said one of the suspects died on the spot while three sustained serious injuries.
“The three suspects were rushed to the hospital for treatment but were later taken to Matumbo police station where they have been kept after reports that the mob planned to attack the three surviving suspects to finish them off at the hospital,” Ms. Kangwa said.
She said the body of the key suspect who committed suicide was abandoned by the relatives in his house and was only buried last night around 20:00 hours in a decomposed state by about five men.
Police last week arrested five Shiwang’andu men for allegedly practising witchcraft.
The suspects were identified as Kasashi Joseph 59 (now deceased), Adson Sinkala, 83, Joel Ng’ona, 78, Abel Chabalange, 83, and Micheal Kunda, 86, all of Kasashi village in Chief Chibesakunda area in Shiwangandu District.
Mr. Njase said one of the suspects Joseph Kasashi (key suspect/now deceased) allegedly fell off from a magical plane which the five suspects were using to fly over Mutambo village in Chief Mukwikile’s area on Monday around 01:00 hours .
