Man kills self over land wrangles in Dowa

A 44-year-old Malawian man is reported to have killed himself over land disputes in Dowa district.

Mponela police public relations officer sergeant Mackson Msadala has confirmed and identified the deceased as Mackson Dickson who committed the crime on the night of 11 to 12 July, 2021.

Msadala said that according to the reporter of the matter, for quite some time there has been land border disputes between the reporter and Dickson (now deceased), from Chatsunda village on one hand, and some villagers of Mdewa village on the other hand.

“On Wednesday July 7, 2021 Dickson cut down a tree which was in the disputed portion of land. In reaction, Mdewa villagers complained the matter to village headman Chatsunda. After being summoned, Dickson maintained that the land belongs to his brother who was by then in Mchinji.

“On July 11, 2021 his brother came back from Mchinji and the matter was scheduled for hearing on July 12, 2021,” said Msadala.

Early in the morning, the reporter and others were surprised to see Dickson hanging dead on a tree.

The matter was reported to police at Mbingwa police unit. The crime scene was visited by CID police officers and a medical officer from Mponela Rural hospital.

Postmortem conducted revealed death was due to suffocation secondary to strangulation.