30 April 2008
Ndola — A 55-year-old peasant farmer was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour for murdering his wife over K8,000.
Kitwe High Court Judge, Ernest Mukulwamutiyo jailed Aroece Chisanga after he convicted him of the murder of his wife Clementina Mayaba.
Chisanga chopped off his wife's hand and used a sharp object on other parts of the body before stashing it in tall grass in the bush.
Mr Justice Mukulwamutiyo said Chisanga's behaviour was uncalled for and that he needed to be separated from society so that others did not fall victim to his dastardly behaviour.
Chisanga had given his wife K8,000 to go and grind maize at a hammermill but she returned home drunk after spending money on beer.
This infuriated her husband who beat her until the hand was severed, the woman also sustained injuries on other parts of the body.
The court had found Chisanga with a case to answer and in his defence, he said that on the fateful day he had given his wife a K8,000 to spend on grinding maize but that she used it on beer.
A prosecution witness told the court that between July 6 and 16, last year, Chisanga told her that he had badly beaten his wife and that he did not know if she was going to survive.
The witness went to check on the victim (Mayaba) but did not find her at home.
She said on several occasions she went to find out where Ms Mayaba was but Chisanga assured her that she would return home as she used to go to her parents whenever they had a quarrel.
But on July 16, 2007 Ms Mayaba's body was discovered in Luto farming area in Lufwanyama and police later apprehended Chisanga.
Chisanga told the court that he only slapped his wife twice and that she had ran away as she always did whenever the two had a dispute.
He said he was later apprehended by the neighbourhood watch for the murder, which he had allegedly reported to the police.
Chisanga denied telling the witness that he had badly beaten his wife and that he only slapped her twice.
In mitigation his lawyer told the court that it should be lenient with Chisanga considering his social status and that he was a first offender at 55 years.
But Mr Justice Mukulwamutiyo said it was immoral for Chisanga to kill his wife over K8,000 because the two were a couple and that what belonged to Chisanga belonged to his wife too.
He said Chisanga must serve a prison sentence as an example to would be offenders to ensure that men respected their wives and reasoned with them whenever there were problems.
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Duncan Kakulekelo Mushala has been married for thirty years and has had 6 children. He has put his wife in so much emotional turmoil that she has slipped in and out of major depression. He has vowed to make her life miserable because he is the bread winner and can pretty much do anything. She has especially suffered over the last decade from mental, emotional, and physical abuse that Duncan Mushala has inflicted on her. Duncan Mushala was married to a widow from the Lusaka Airport area - secretly - and preyed on her. He started working for TAVETA and… [Read Full Text]