By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
THE Lusaka High Court has found a Matero mother with a case to answer in a matter in which she is charged with poisoning her two children with the pesticide Doom.
Mirriam Mulenga had taken the same poison herself, but survived after being rushed to the University Teaching Hospital, along with a third child.
Judge Getrude Chawatama said in her ruling yesterday that looking at the evidence adduced by the State against Mulenga, a prima facie case had been established to warrant placing her on her defence.
Mulenga, unemployed, is accused of killing her two children, Mwiche Nakazwe, 5, and Darson Sikazwe, 21 months old, by poisoning them with Doom on January 24, 2017.
Mulenga’s defence lawyer from Legal Aid Board Humphrey Mweemba told the court that she would be the lone witness in her defence which opens in October 2 2017.
Earlier,the arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Paul Siwo told the court that the two children died of food poisoning.
Mr Siwo, who is based at Matero police station, told Ms Justice Chawatama that he was assigned to investigate a case in which Austin Sikazwe complained that his wife had administered some insecticide on her two children who had died.
He said investigations were instituted and a bottle labelled ‘Doom insecticide’ was found in the couple’s bedroom , with some other pieces of evidence which were taken for testing for toxicity.
Mr Siwo said that the post-mortem results indicated that the two children had indeed died of poisoning.
Mr Siwo said that when Mulenga failed to give him a satisfactory explanation for the death of her two children,he made up his mind to charge her on two counts of murder which she denied under warn-and-caution.