Zambia: Police in Senga Hill District have arrested seven suspects in connection with the murder of Christopher Simfukwe. The victim is a resident of Sikalembe Village in Senga Hill and was last month set ablaze on suspicion of practicing witchcraft.
Many communities within the country have people who are struck by the rampant belief in witchcraft and superstition. The members of the community believe that some people are witches and have been using black magic.
However, these accusations have been known to be unfounded and lack any substantial proof. The communities, driven by superstitious beliefs often seriously hurt innocent people who have been wrongly accused of being witches.
Northern Province Police Commissioner, Lucky Munkondya has confirmed the development to ZANIS this morning. She shared the details of the arrest with the media through an official statement.
Commissioner Munkondya said the seven arrested suspects include six males and one female. It was also confirmed that all the suspects were residents of Sikalembe village in Senior Chief Nsokolo’s chiefdom.
Munkondya has also identified the suspects in the media statement as Brian Silavwe, Nkumbu Simfukwe, Lazarous Simfukwe, and Nteka Simfukwe. She said others are Joseph Simfukwe, Osten Simfukwe, and Anna Chisulo. All the suspects of the murder belong to a single family.
The Police Commanding Officer narrated that the seven were arrested between Tuesday, 7th May around 23:30 and the early hours of Wednesday.
Commissioner Munkondya disclosed that the suspects are currently detained at a named police station, awaiting a court appearance. The suspects believed that the victim, whom they killed by setting him on fire, was practicing witchcraft.
The deceased, on 16th April while in the company of his wife and children, was murdered by the community on suspicion that he was responsible for the death of his granddaughter.
The people pounced on him, murdered him, and thereafter set him ablaze using petrol which they got from motorbikes. Commissioner Lucky Munkondya has since thanked the community for working with the police to arrest the suspects.