Mom burns son's hands, mouth over missing piece of chicken

Lilongwe - A Malawian mother has been arrested for allegedly burning her son's hands and forcing burning coal into his mouth because of a stolen piece of chicken.

Nyasa Times reported that the woman, Julita Matias, 38, from Mulanje district, had gone out with her husband and left her son, Kingsley Mame, 9, at home.

When they returned home, Matias discovered that a piece of the chicken that she had prepared before leaving was missing.

"So she suspected the child had eaten it, and she started whipping him... Later on, she decided to burn the kid's hands and as he was trying to escape, she instead, took a burning charcoal and pressed it on his mouth," Gresham Nkhwazi, the Mulanje police publicist, was quoted as saying.

The son was only taken to the hospital three days later when his older brother told the village headman what took place, who then reported it to the police.

Matias is currently in police custody.