By MAYA NTANDA –
THE Kitwe High Court has sentenced a 21-year- old man of Solwezi to 40 years imprisonment with hard labour for manslaughter for his role in causing the death of another man on suspicion that he was a wizard.
High Court Judge -in- charge Catherine Makungu sent to jail John Nkonde, 21, of Leza village in Solwezi for causing the death of Baldwin Kalenga between December 5 and December 6 last year.
Nkonde was convicted with his 16-year-old brother after they participated in assaulting Mr Kalenga by tying him to a door frame and a coffin with stones placed on him until he became unconscious.
Mr Kalenga was accused of causing the death of Moses Nkonde, a relation of the accused persons and dragged to the funeral house where he was tied to the door frame, a coffin placed on his body until he started bleeding and became unconscious.
The court heard that the family had placed some charms in the coffin with the belief that it would lead them to Mr Kalenga as the person responsible for the death of Mr Nkonde.
Nkonde and his brother were earlier charged with murder but the court reduced it to manslaughter.
In sentencing Nkonde, Ms Justice Makungu sitting in Solwezi said that the accused participated in the unlawful assault of the victim and was fully liable for manslaughter and not murder because the nature of the assault was such that the cumulative effect over came the deceased.
She noted that the accused’s actions were intended to encourage others who were involved in carrying the coffin and assaulting the deceased, so he aided and abetted them in committing the offence.
Ms Justice Makungu said the accused did nothing to stop the others from committing the offence.
Ms Justice Makungu, however, ordered that a social welfare report be rendered by the social welfare department in respect of the juvenile offender before the court delivers its sentence.
She further urged police officers to apprehend Mukonka Leza the grandfather of the convicts and anyone else who may be suspected of having committed the offence because such cases were prevalent in North-Western Province.
