Tanzania: Eight-year old girl in custody over murder of one-year-seven-month old kid
What you need to know:
According to Mr Mtafungwa, while attending church services on Sunday, the deceased’s father, Mr Greyson Valentino got information that his kid had gone missing.
Morogoro. It sounds similar to what people watch in movies from Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood but in this particular case, it is a true life story.
Police in Morogoro are holding an eight-year old girl and class two pupil at Mpapa Primary School for interrogations in connection with the murder of a one-year-seven-months kid from a neighbouring compound.
The Morogoro Regional Police Commander, Mr Wilbroad Mutafungwa told journalists here on Wednesday, July 24, 2019 that the incident occurred on Sunday, July 21, 2019 at Hembeti, Mvomero in Morogoro.
The arrested girl is alleged to have killed the kid by slashing a machete into the latter’s head.
According to Mr Mtafungwa, while attending church services on Sunday, the deceased’s father, Mr Greyson Valentino got information that his kid had gone missing.
“He decided to go home to join his colleagues and relatives in the search for the missing kid…It was while searching that he went to the neighbour’s farm where he found his kid’s lifeless body, bearing injuries in the head,” said Mr Mtafungwa.
Mr Valentino then decided to go to his neighbor, Mr Said Stephen, to enquire as to why his kid’s lifeless body was found at his (the neighbour’s) farm.
“While there, a younger sister to the accused girl told the deceased’s father that she saw her elder sister slashing a machete into the kid’s head and pulling the dead body to the farm,” explained Mr Mtafungwa.
At that point, villagers took the accused girl, and the machete that she allegedly used in the killings, to Dakawa Police Station.
“After being questioned at the police station, she consented to the allegations against her,” said Mr Mtafungwa.
He said in the endeavor to get to the bottom of the matter, police then started searching for the girl’s father, Mr Stephen.
However, the latter could not cooperate with the law enforcers.
“Even when we informed him about the killings, he neither cooperated with the police nor with the deceased kid’s family….We then decided to arrest him. He may be joined into the case, pending completion of the investigations,” he said.
Investigations into the killed kid’s body have completed. Police have handed the body over to the family for burial arrangements.
