LILONGWE--A child has died, alone at home, after parents refused to seek medical treatment on religious grounds, sources familiar with the development tell MaraPost.

Friends of the family say the child was suffering from a curable disease but the parents, who run their own church ministry from home and have well paying jobs in the capital Lilongwe, didn’t want to hear anything about medical intervention.

At one point, sources said, teachers from the school where the child was in standard five were rudely chased away when they visited her at home. They said the mother insisted the child was fine.

"The day the child died last week Thursday, both parents were out to work. She was an intelligent child who always scored first position in class. I wonder why the couple could do such a heartless thing," our source said.

When the died, she was alone at home.

"We were surprised to hear her mother crying, blaming her husband for not looking after the girl. She claimed she left him with the child when she left for work," the source said,

The body was taken to Karonga for burial.

This isn’t the first time an incident like this one where parents have refused medical treatment for their children. Two years ago seven children died form a bout of measles after their parents refused to have them vaccinated and medical treatment on religious grounds.

It’s unclear what happened to the parents after they were arrested following calls for their prosecution for child endangerment.
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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment.