Clad in a green coat, the old man who killed his wife walked from the dock with a shuffling gait and downcast eyes to the prison van.
The 79 – year – old Phahla Jungwa of Mengwe ward had just been handed a seven- year prison sentence for beating his wife to death.
Evidence that convicted the old man indicated that on the night of March, 12, 2016, Jungwa murdered his wife Nkepelang Shanya Nkaigwa by hitting her on the lower part of the ribs with a piece of wood.
During trial, Jungwa told the court that on that day he had arrived home around 7 pm from a wedding and found his wife sleeping.
“I woke her up so she could give me a mattress to sleep on but instead she hit me on the right cheek with a piece of wood accusing me of coming from a girlfriend.
“I then reacted by slapping her with my bare hand when she was lying down and she never got up thereafter,” said Jungwa denying that he used a piece of wood on his wife.
However post mortem result findings showed the cause of Jungwa’s wife’s death as multiple injuries due to blunt force trauma.
Jungwa was therefore found guilty in December after Judge Matlhogonolo Phuthego indicated that the accused person claimed that his wife had hit him with a piece of wood but he did not sustain any bodily injury.
“Looking at the exhibited piece of wood which is about a meter long and thick, I have no doubt in my mind that had it landed on the accused as he alleges, the accused person would have incurred visible injuries. The deceased was not in danger to him at all; she was on the ground unarmed. I therefore have no doubt that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that when the accused person effected the fatal beatings on the deceased there was no lawful justification for him to do so,” said the judge.
Before sentencing Jungwa, Judge Phuthego stated that the old man was a first offender, which shows he had been a law-abiding citizen all these years.
“The court also has to consider that the accused is of an advanced age, 79 years old and that he committed the offence after he was provoked by the deceased.
“I sentence the accused to 7 years in jail which period shall reckon from the time he was incarcerated. The accused is advised of his right to appeal at the Court of Appeal six weeks from now,” said the Judge in closing.
