Mozambique: Two suspects detained for murder of environmental activist Lara Muaves – Lusa

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Mozambique: Two suspects detained for murder of environmental activist Lara Muaves – Lusa
Mozambique: Two suspects detained for murder of environmental activist Lara Muaves – Lusa

Africa-PressMozambique. Two people are in detention on suspicion of killing an environmental activist and abandoning her body in a drainage ditch in the Costa do Sol neighbourhood of Maputo, the criminal investigation service (SERNIC) told Lusa on Monday.

Lara Muaves, an activist linked to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Mozambique, was reportedly killed on Thursday night at the home of one of the suspects, in Kumbeza neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Maputo, said Hilário Lole, spokesman for the SERNIC.

“The victim was reportedly with the author on the night of the 14th and they had an argument. The author reportedly put brake oil in the victim’s drink to speed up drunkenness, then he stabbed her and with the support of his friend they went and threw her body in the Costa do Sol neighbourhood, close to her house,” the SERNIC spokesman said.

The victim’s body was found on Friday morning in a drainage ditch, wearing only her underwear and with a “perforation in her stomach, made with a knife found later in the author’s house,” the SERNIC added, noting that Lara Muaves’ car was also found near the same residence.

“Two people are in custody and they have confessed. According to family members [the alleged killer] was an employee, controlled some of the victim’s work, but according to the suspect, they had a love relationship,” said Hilário Lole.

According to SERNIC, the suspects reportedly struck the victim in the stomach and took off her clothes to make it look like it was a rape or a robbery and thus “distance themselves from the crime”.

Lara Muaves, WWF coordinator in Inhambane, southern Mozambique, was a well-known activist in the country, with a number of figures mourning her death.

“Here for fellow cause-members, why not think of a Lara Muaves award? Perpetuate her name and example? Teach the little ones who she was?”, wrote Mozambican environmentalist Carlos Serra on his social network Facebook page.

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