By CHILA NAMAIKO –
A SEVENTY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD woman of Zimba District, who is alleged to have been suffering from a sleepwalking disorder on Thursday last week drowned in a dam.
Saviour Mweemba, of Matangani Village in Chief Sipatunyana went missing from her home on Thursday from around 05:00 hours to 20:00 hours when her body was found floating in a nearby dam.
Southern Province Police Chief, Mary Chikwanda was, however, unreachable by press time yesterday, but Zimba District Commissioner (DC) Elizabeth Kalaluka confirmed the incident.
Ms Kalaluka said in an interview that the body of the woman was retrieved from the dam shortly after it was discovered around 20:00 hours following a vigorous search by the villagers.
She said that when the body was discovered in the dam, police rushed to the scene to retrieve it.
“I personally witnessed when the body was being retrieving from the dam around 20:00 hours and it’s very sad that a life has been lost,” Ms Kalaluka said.
Sleepwalking is a disorder that causes people to get up and walk while they are asleep. It occurs when a person is going from a deep stage of sleep to a lighter stage or into awake state.
She said the deceased, who was alleged to have been suffering from a sleepwalking disorder, could have left her home around 05:00 hours and drowned in the dam.
Ms Kalaluka said police did not suspect any foul play because the deceased was a known patient whose condition could have caused her to drown.
The body was lying in the Zimba Mission Hospital awaiting post-mortem.