By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –
A NDOLA woman yesterday emerged from battery and being locked up in a building by her husband for one week.
It took police officers raiding the former African Commercial Bank building situated along Kabelenga Avenue, to rescue the woman from her captivity yesterday afternoon.
The woman identified as Grace Kapele aged 34, was confined to the building after her husband Kasongeja Malipilo beat her up and confiscated her mobile phones a week ago.
Ms Kapele’s call for help from the building paid off when council workers, who were slashing grass outside, noticed her peeping through the window.
She narrated her ordeal to the workers amid sobs, before one of them offered his phone for her to call her father Robby Kapele.
The father who has not heard from his daughter for over a week, drove from Chingola and reported the confinement of his daughter to police.
Mr Kapele arrived at the building, which is situated opposite the Times offices, with two police officers and found her still locked in the building.
When he called his son in law concerning his daughter, Mr Malipilo claimed he had only locked the gate and not the entire building.
Upon his arrival at the premises after being summoned, Mr Malipilo opened the gate and the door before leading the police officers to where his wife was.
The immediate sight of Ms Kapele showed that she had swollen face eyes and eyes.
Ms Kapele told the Times that her husband grabbed her phone because they had a misunderstanding which made him lock her up.
“When I called my daughter she was crying and she told me that she had been battered and confined to one room,” Mr Kapele said.
Earlier the Times saw two plain-clothed police officers with Mr Kapele waiting for close to two hours outside the building.
Mr Malipilo said that he only left his wife this morning and only locked the gate of the building and did not lock her up.
“I was in Kitwe and I only received a call from my father-in-law accusing me of having locked up my wife, but I only locked the gate, and all the other doors were open,” he said.
Mr Malipilo was taken to the Ndola Police Station for further questioning.
Copperbelt deputy police chief Bwembya Musole confirmed receiving the report and said the woman was given time to rest before questioning her.
Mr Musole said the woman was issued with a medical form to obtain a report from hospital.
He said Ms Kapele was in no condition to make a formal complaint and that she was asked to return to police to make a report on her ordeal.
Mr Musole said police could therefore not take any action against Mr Malipilo at this stage.