Mob kills 3 as family perishes

In a space of three days Isaac Foster, 39, of Neno District has transitioned from being head of a family of six to a widower.

Between Sunday and Tuesday, his wife and three children have died one after another due to suspected food poisoning. The tragedy has also claimed the life of his brother-in-law.

The developments left people of Chekulembera II Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Dambe in the district in shock and some of them went on the prowl, hunting suspected masterminds of the alleged food poisoning.

In the process, three people have been killed by a mob.

Foster, who was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, returned to his house in Neno to the sight of six coffins—for his three children, his wife, brother-in-law Mbeta and next for one of the mob justice suspect.

When The Nation visited his house around 6pm on Wednesday, it took about seven minutes for Foster to grant an interview.

“Why has God allowed me to be alive today? I am alone today…. What wrong have I done to this village? Why kill my family? Nditani ine…[What should

I do?],” he broke down.

Foster recalled that on Saturday, February 21, he was in the house with his three children and wife. After a while, he said, his friend also popped in and later his in-law Diston Mbeta came.

“It was our Sabbath and we always accommodate people. We had a visitor, Tobias Frank, aged 25,” he said.

At lunch, his wife Faggie prepared nsima with beans, but they did not partake because they felt full as they had taken breakfast around 11am.

“We decided to keep what was supposed to be lunch and eat it in the evening,” he said.

Foster said they had supper around 7pm together with Faggie, Mbeta, Frank and the couple’s three children, namely Prity aged four, seven-year-old Israel and Mike aged 14.

He said it was all good until 1am on Sunday when his last born daughter Prity started vomiting.

“Together with Frank, we took Prity to Matandani Health Centre where we arrived around 4am. She was put on a drip, but her condition did not improve. While at the hospital, my friend Tobias Frank also started vomiting and was given a bed. Next, I also started vomiting and was given a bed too,” narrated Foster.

He said while they were being attended to they received a phone call that his wife and children were also unwell and were rushed to the hospital.