By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

A TWO-YEAR-OLD child burnt to death in Nchelenge after the house she was in caught fire.
The child, Marjory Mulenga of Kaputa Village in Chief Mununga’s area in Nchelenge, got burnt around 06:00 hours on Tuesday after the grass-thatched house in which she was sleeping caught fire.
Luapula Province Police chief Malcolm Mulenga said yesterday that the incident happened after the mother to the child Hildah Chola, 23, and the father Jaineki Mwape, 25, were working in the field.
“When the parents came back from the field, they found their house completely burnt beyond recognition,” Mr Mulenga said.
A four-year-old boy and another two-year-old who were also in the house, managed to escape the inferno.
Meanwhile, a mob nearly beat up a 25-year-old woman and her grandmother of Mansa whom it accused of killing a two-week-old baby and burying it.
Mr Mulenga said a concerned member of the community called Police to alert them that two women had killed a child and buried it and that a mob wanted to beat them up.
He said the incident happened on Sunday around 07:40 hours in Chiengi Village in Chief Chimese’s area in Mansa.
Mr Mulenga said preliminary investigations revealed that the two-week-old infant had been sick from the time of birth and when she died on Sunday around 04:00 hours, the body was immediately buried after some hours, because traditionally it was considered to be a pre-maturely born baby.
He said the burying of the baby, however, prompted members of the public to suspect foul play, hence reporting the matter to the Police.
The mother of the child Beauty Chisanga and her grandmother Albina Chana were rushed to Mansa Police Station for their safety.