4-yr-old abducted boy found alive – but with slit throat
What you need to know:
I child who survived from the killing in Njombe has explained a story on how he was captured, before an attempt to slaughter him failed.
Njombe. When Meshack Myonga, 4, was found alive in hospital, his mother considered it a miracle – especially what with the horrifying wounds he had in his neck.
The boy was allegedly abducted by an unknown person on December 23, 2018. When he was found later by a ‘Good Samaritan’ – a woman – in a forest at Mji Mwema in Njombe District, the boy was unconscious, with his throat partly slit.
It was around 11am when Meshack and his mother Rabia were returning home from enrolling the boy for a nursery school, and the mother decided to call on their neighbour who had just delivered a baby. But Meshack decided to go on home alone, a mere 30 metres away, her mother said.
“My friend’s home is just 30 meters from our home, and Meshack told me that he wanted to go home. His father was at home, and I saw no reason to keep him with me then,” she said.
However, she was shocked later to be told that the boy had not returned to their house since the two went out together earlier in the morning.
“At first, I thought that Meshack had instead gone to play with his friends in the neighbourhood. So, I went searching for him among our neighbours; he was nowhere to be found and, after waiting in vain for him to just turn up from wherever he was until 6pm, I went to report the matter to our ten-cell leader,” she said. As they were searching for him, someone came to tell them that a child had been found unconscious in a nearby bush.
The seriously-injured boy was then taken to Kibena Hospital, from where he was transferred to Mbeya Referral Hospital for specialised treatment.
The following morning, Ms Rabia went to a police station with her husband to officially report the incident. Thereafter, they went to Mbeya.
“I found my son in the intensive care unit--and he was not able to speak for at least two weeks,” she said, noting that the boy’s throat had been partly slit. When he became able to speak, the boy revealed that a man he did not know, accosted him and told him to follow him to a shop where he would buy him candy and fruit juice.
The chairman of the village, Mr Alanus Mwalongo, said when the child was discovered in the bush, he was brought to him at his shop. But, he directed the Good Samaritans to send him to the hospital.
According to the chairman, Meshack’s was the second incident to happen in Njombe, after a similar incident took place last November when a child was found slaughtered.
Njombe regional police commander Renalta Mzinga said the police is investigating the child killings in Njombe District, and 29 suspects are already in custody undergoing interrogation.
