POLICE in Sinda District, Eastern Province have launched a manhunt for the grandmother and mother of a newborn baby who died after they allegedly abandoned the infant in a pit latrine.
It is believed that on Tuesday, Onisha Daka, mother to the deceased of Lwanika Village, who was reportedly heavily pregnant at the time, gave birth to a healthy baby girl before abandoning her.
According to reports, Onisha retired to bed around 22:00 hours and at an unspecified time during the night, she delivered a baby girl who she later disposed of.
In the early houses of yesterday, some community members, woke up to the cries of a newborn baby coming from a pit latrine but no one could bring themselves to venture into the pit and rescue the infant.
At approximately 11:00 hours, some villagers alerted Onisha’s cousin, Josephine Phiri about their suspicions that a newborn had been abandoned in the latrine.
Following the distressing report, Josephine took it upon herself to investigate the situation, visiting her uncle’s residence to inspect the pit latrine in question.
After discovering the truth of the matter, Josephine promptly reported the incident to the police, detailing her findings.
Upon receiving the report, police officers immediately descended upon the scene to corroborate the account, confirming Josephine’s suspicions.
Eastern Province police commanding officer Robertson Mweemba revealed that upon the discovery of the infant’s body in the pit latrine, officers from the Fire Department were called in to assist retrieving the remains.
Mweemba disclosed that after carefully examining the body, officers concluded that the umbilical cord had been cleanly severed, indicating that the baby had been delivered in a separate location before being disposed of in the pit latrine, which measured approximately 3 meters deep.
“Notably, there was no evidence of any other product of conception present in the latrine, further corroborating the suspicions that the baby had been abandoned rather than spontaneously miscarried,” Mweemba stated.
The body was inspected and it didn’t have any other physical injuries and was later transported to Chikalawa health post where medical personnel confirmed it was a brought in dead.
Mweemba revealed that the body was put on the scale and its weight was determined to be 2.5 kilograms, confirming that the baby had been born at full term and through normal labour.
With the investigation pointing towards the involvement of Onisha and her mother, Ruth Phiri, in the abandonment of the newborn, the police have since shifted their focus to locating and apprehending the two women.
“Docket of case was opened,” added Mweemba.
By Sharon Zulu
Kalemba August 7, 2025
