Father Poisons two children before killing self
By Staff Reporter
A father of Emmasdale has allegedly killed his two children by poisoning them before taking his own life using pesticide.
Police in Lusaka said they received a report of suspected murder and suicide at a lodge in Matero township.
Police assistant public relations officer Godfrey Chilabi identified the father to the children as Joe Tembo, 30 who took his own life after poisoning his children aged 3 and 6 on Tuesday night.
Chilabi stated that a worker at a named lodge in Matero reported that unknown male adult of 30-35 years accompanied by two children a boy and a girl booked a room on Tuesday 19th March around 22:00hrs.
“In the evening of 20thMarch, 2018 around 20:00hrs, the members of staff at the lodge noticed that the guests were not coming out despite knocking on the door several times. Then one of them peeped through the keyhole and saw the man gasping,” said Chilabi.
“It was at this point that they reported the matter to Matero Police Station. Upon arrival, police officers entered the room and found that the children were dead. Their father who was found gasping was rushed to the hospital where he later died. In the room, Police officers found three empty bottles of pesticide, torn documents and two cell phones submerged in water. From the initial findings so far, we suspect that the man administered some toxic pesticides on the children and later committed suicide,”.
Chilabi further said investigation have been imstituted.and the deceased have been identified by relatives.
“The bodies are lying in the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Mortuary awaiting postmortem,” said chilabi
