POLICE in Lusaka have confirmed that they received a report of suspected suicide in which a living-in maid, aged 46, is alleged to have committed suicide from her employer’s home in Lusaka’s Olympia Township after consuming Doom pesticide.

In a statement, Thursday, police spokesperson Esther Katongo disclosed that the incident occurred on January 21, 2021, around 05:20 hours.

“The report was made by the employer of the now deceased person, aged 54, that her maid, identified as Anastasia Mulenga, aged 46, was discovered dead when she had gone to check on her after noticing that she was not responding to the persistent alarm on her phone (maid’s phone) at about 05:00 hours,” stated Katongo.

“According to the employer, she did not find Anastasia in the room where she was sleeping and after a search, she found an empty bottle of pesticide, namely Doom, on the floor of the kitchen. She then went outside and found the maid dead in a swimming pool.”

Katongo added that police visited the scene and found the body in the pool without visible injuries.

She said an inquiry in the matter had been launched and the body of the deceased had since been taken to UTH mortuary for postmortem to ascertain the cause of death.