By ADRIAN MWANZA –
A TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD man of Railways Township in Kabwe has been sentenced to six months in prison after he assaulted his mother for not giving him food .
A Kabwe magistrate that sentenced him to jail said the six months would give the man’s family a break from his bad behaviour.
Sifweti Mwangelwa was sent to jail for beating up his mother and sister who refused to give him nshima after he came back from a drinking spree.
This was in a case in which Mwangelwa was charged with malicious damage to property after he broke his younger sister’s cell phone valued at K650.
Facts are that on December 1, 2015 Mwangelwa beat up his mother and younger sister and in the process broke her Samsung smart phone.
His sister, Getrude Mwangelwa, 21, told the court that his brother started arguing with their mother after he came back from a drinking spree and demanded for nshima.
“Sifweti started attacking us after we refused to give him nshima after he came back from a drinking spree,” she said.
Getrude told magistrate Kaizer Tembo that she together with her friend had to intervene to stop her brother from injuring their mother.
She said they later took him to Chowa Police Post where he was remanded and a warn and caution was recorded.
Gertrude said her brother had an alcoholic problem which made him act violently whenever he returned from drinking.
However, Sifweti begged magistrate Tembo to be lenient because he was a first offender and that he needed spiritual help for him to overcome his drinking habit.
“Your honour, I am asking for your leniency. Am aware that I have a problem and I need spiritual help in order for me to overcome this drinking problem,” he said.
But Mr Tembo said it was evident that the defendant was a thorn in the flesh for his family and that they deserved a break.
He said it was for this reason that he decided to sentence him to six months in prison with hard labour and hoped that he would reflect on his life.
“It is evident that you are a thorn in your family’s flesh. It is for this reason that I will sentence you to six months in prison with hard labour in order to give you time to reflect,” he said.