Woman arrested for killing 2 year old son
In news that has caught communities with sadness, Police in Balaka have arrested a 21-year-old woman on suspicion that she murdered her 2-year-old biological son, Fahad Frank, by poisoning him with pesticides chemicals after a disagreement with family members over how the child was raised.
The woman identified as Magret Victor from Saidi Village in Traditional Authority Nsamala in Balaka, is suspected to have committed the crime at Saidi Village.
Police Publicist for Balaka Gladson M’bupha reports that in March 2024, the suspect was blessed with a baby boy (deceased) and due to some complications, the suspect’s breasts were unable to release milk to breast feed the born child.
It was the suspect’s sister (Pilirani Victor) who took charge of the responsibility of taking care of the child (deceased) by among other things breastfeeding him.
In July, 2025, the suspect left her home village for Mangochi to seek piece works and luckily she got employed as a house maid.
The suspect reported back home in January 2026 and found her son (deceased) still being taken care of by her sister, Pilirani.
It was then on Sunday, May 17, 2026 during afternoon hours when disagreements between Pilirani and her sister Magret (suspect) arose and the two started exchanging bitter words.
The suspect alleged that her sister Pilirani had insulted her by saying that her son was not brought up by her (suspect) and that she was not a parent to him (deceased).
Hearing those words from her sister, the suspect said she got annoyed with the words and she decided to terminate her son’s life by poisoning him with pesticides chemicals and it was on Monday, May 18, 2026 when the suspect did the evil act.
The suspect’s sister Pilirani on Monday, May 18, 2026 in the afternoon hours observed that the child while at the back of the suspect was looking weak and had some whitish stuff (foam) that was coming out from his mouth.
This prompted sister to the suspect to rush with the child to Balaka District Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The matter was reported to Police that the suspect had allegedly poisoned her son and Police swiftly taken an action, leading to the arrest of the suspect while the body was held at Balaka District Hospital.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the body of Fahad Frank was taken to Chiradzulo District Hospital for full postmortem (Open) where a Forensic Officer at the hospital conducted postmortem examination on the body and revealed that the young boy was indeed poisoned before he was strangled to death.
Meanwhile, specimens (Stomach and Liver tissues) will be sent to Bwemba Central Veterinary to establish the exact chemical that was used for poisoning the deceased.
The suspect will appear before court soon after paper work is finalised.
