By NORMA SIAME?-
A TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Luwingu man, who strangled his wife?during a fight, has been sentenced to 19 years imprisonment with hard?labour by the Kasama High Court.
Presiding Judge Petronella Ngulube delivered the sentence after Bright?Bwalya of Chief Chipalo’s area in Luwingu District pleaded guilty to a?reduced charge of manslaughter.
Particulars of the case before court were that on March 10, 2013, ?Bwalya and his wife, Eli Chibale, returned home from a drinking spree?and shortly after arriving home, they started fighting and hurling?insults at each other.
The verbal altercation swiftly escalated into a physical confrontation?and Bwalya overpowered his wife and held her by the neck until she?lost consciousness.?In his drunken state, Bwalya assumed his wife had just fainted and?opened the door to let in fresh air to help resuscitate her.
He later?blacked out and woke up in the morning around 05:00 hours only to find?his wife stone cold.?Gripped with fear, Bwalya ran to his mother’s house to report the?incident. His mother, Violet Mwewa, rushed to have a look at her?daughter-in-law and surmised that she was dead.
Ms Mwewa, accompanied by her husband, reported the matter to detective?inspector Sakala of Luwingu Police Station who rushed to the scene of?the crime where he found the deceased with bruises on the face, chest?and blood oozing from the nose.
The body was picked and deposited into the Luwingu District Hospital mortuary.? A post-mortem examination conducted on the body of the deceased showed?that she died because of strangulation.