Jealousy Husband Given 4 Yrs IHL

By: Lackson Kanyoza

Chiradzulu magistrate court has sentenced a 30-year-old Patrick Lameck of Khungwa village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kadewere to 4 years imprisonment with hard labour for beating his wife  Pilirani Kondwani, 35 of Chiwalika village, T/A Mpama in the same district because of jealousy.

According to police prosecutor Sub-Inspector Petro Yohane, the court was told that the incident took place on 22^nd March 2016 in a maize field where the couple had gone to work.

“The two went to cultivate in their garden, while there, the wife received a phone call from one of her relatives which the husband suspected to be from a secret lover. This  irked the husband and he  started beating his wife with a hoe until she collapsed,” reported Yohane.

Yohane said that after regaining consciousness, the wife went to the police and reported the matter which led to the arrest of the husband.

Appearing before Chiradzulu First Grade Magistrate Court, Lameck claimed it was because of jealousy and that he loved his wife that’s why he beat her on suspicions that the call may have been from another man.

“I accept to have beaten my wife with a hoe hand at the garden unknowingly, I thought the phone call that she had received was from another man who want to hijack my wife and this angered me,”  Lameck told the court.

Passing judgment on 1^st April 2016, First Grade Magistrate Annie Chikhadzula said the suspect committed a serious offence which could  have costed her and hence  a need for a stiff sentence.

“It’s very sad to see that issues of Gender-based violence are still increasing in the country even though police and  other organizations are sensitizing the dangers of violence but some people like Mr Lameck are on the forefront violating the rights of others instead of joining hands to end the malpractice in our communities.

“So the court finds you guilty and sentences you to 48 months imprisonment such that other would be offenders are taught from this that domestic violence is a serious case hence a need to refrain,” Chikhadzula said.

In his remarks, the Community Policing Coordinator Inspector Kingsley Mvuthe who is also the Officer In-charge of the Victim Support Unit (VSU) at the station expressed concern over the misbehaviours of some people in the district who are taking the laws into their hands by punishing others instead of seeking police help.