A Lusaka woman who knif3d her lover after he refused to buy her beans will now spend two years in jail.
Mulenga Chitwansombo was facing a charge of unlawful wounding for st@bbing Tom Phiri on May 21, this year.
During trial, Phiri, a general worker of Lusaka’s Kaunda square told the court that Mulenga st@bbed him with a knife after he declined to buy cooked beans for her worth K5.
Phiri told magistrate Nthandose Chabala that he was involved in a relationship with Chitwansombo for three years.
He said on the material day when he knocked off from work around 19:00 hours, he went home and prepared himself some T-bone, Chinese cabbage and nshima for supper.
He said after he finished eating, he started watching TV up to 23:00 hours when his lover went to his home and demanded for Nshima.
“I told her to warm the Nshima on the stove because she was complaining that I left cold food for her. She started eating relish while the nshima was warming,” Phiri said.
Phiri said upon finishing the relish Chitwansombo demanded that he buys her cooked beans at one of the restaurants in the vicinity of his home but Phiri refused because it was late.
“I refused to go and buy her beans because it was too late so she opened the door and I told her to go then she got an iron bar and hit me on the head. When I tried to get the iron bar from her she quickly reached for a knife and st@bbed me in the stomach, after she st@bbed me I held onto her as she attempted to run away, and I called for help from my brother who was in the other room,” Phiri said.
He told the court that his brother took him to Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital where he was treated for almost two months.
When the matter came up for facts and sentencing magistrate Chabala convicted Chitwansombo for unlawful w0unding as the state had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
During mitigation, Chitwansombo claimed that she had a memory lapse and that she could not recall what transpired on the material day.
Supplementing her explanation the Convict’s mother told the court that Chitwansombo has an alc0hol drinking problem and experiences alc0hol withdrawal syndrome and that she has never had a mental issue.
In her sentence, magistrate Chabala said cases of gender based vi0lence are increasing and even men were victims of the vice adding that it was unfortunate that Chitwansombo st@bbed her lover.
“It is sad that the accused st@bbed the person she loves, you st@bbed him in the chest and punctured his lung. In order for you to reform, and send a warning to would be offenders I sentence you to two years imprisonment with effect from today,” said Magistrate Chabala.
