A one-year-old girl, Aisha Banda, has died after drowning in a basin of water at Mchilembe Village in the area of Traditional Authority Zolokere in Rumphi District.
According to Rumphi Police spokesperson Noel Kamchenga, the incident occurred on May 4, 2026.
Police say the child’s father, Mathews Banda, had left home early for work, while the mother, Trifonia Mvula, went to fetch water from a nearby well, leaving the child asleep in the house.
Upon returning from her first trip, the mother reportedly left a basin of water outside the house and went back to the well again while the child was still asleep.
On her return, she found the child, who had crawled outside, submerged in the basin. She quickly called for help and rushed the child to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The matter was reported to Hewe Police Unit, and officers who visited the scene, together with medical personnel, confirmed after a postmortem that the cause of death was suffocation secondary to drowning.
Police have since urged parents and guardians to exercise extra caution when leaving young children unattended, especially around water.
