Police in Lusaka have detained two female juveniles aged 15 and 16 in connection with the suspected murder of 18-year-old Taonga Phiri of Kamwala South.
Zambia Police Service Public Relations Officer Godfrey Chilabi says the matter was reported on June 22nd by the victim’s father, Michael Malambo, who reported that his daughter had died under suspicious circumstances.
Mr Chilabi says on June 21st, the 15-year-old juvenile alerted her mother that Taonga had collapsed at a residence in Kamwala South. A family member rushed to the house and found the victim unconscious before she was taken to the University Teaching Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police preliminary investigations indicate that the deceased may have been strangled and assaulted, with unknown tablets allegedly administered afterwards in an attempt to make the death appear as a suicide.
The two juveniles have since been detained as investigations continue, while the body of the deceased has been deposited in the UTH mortuary pending a post-mortem examination to establish the actual cause of death.
By Niza Vomo
