A 25-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly hacking her nine-month old son to death with an axe and attempting suicide after they both tested positive for the Aids virus, police said on Friday.
Aids carries a strong stigma in this impoverished Southern African nation. An estimated 14% of Malawi’s 11-million population carry the virus but only 3% have gone for voluntary testing, despite campaigns from government leaders.
Police spokesperson Enock Livason said the woman and her son had tested positive for the virus at a government hospital in northern Malawi.
”When she got home, she put her son, Paul down, took an axe and hit him in the head,” he said. ”She started cutting her son into pieces.”
The woman, identified by police as Mary Mwagomba, also allegedly tried to kill herself but was restrained by neighbours.
According to Livason, she will be charged with infanticide and attempted suicide.
Malawi is one of the Southern African nations hardest hit by the Aids virus. Its people are extremely poor and poorly educated. — Sapa-AP