By SYLVIA MWEETWA –
A WITNESS in a case in which a Kabwe-based soldier is alleged to have murdered his wife has told the court that the accused person apologised to the family through a letter he wrote.
Mary Banda, 59, testified before Kabwe High Court judge Elita Mwikisa that she received a letter from the accused while he was already at Mukobeko Maximum Prison in which he apologised over the death of his wife.
This is in a case in which Sydney Mumba, 34, a private in the Zambia Army, is between March 5 and 6, 2013, suspected to have murdered Rachael Banda, aged 24, contrary to section 200 Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia, a charge he denied.
Ms Banda, who is an aunt of the deceased, told the court during examination-in-chief by the State prosecutors, that the family was still in shock over the death of her niece who she last saw in Lusaka a day before she died.
She told Ms Justice Mwikisa that she identified the body of her niece at Kabwe General Hospital mortuary before a postmortem was carried out.
She said her niece’s tongue was protruding while her face was swollen.
The letter was later presented in court as part of evidence. The lawyer representing Mumba did not object to presenting of the letter.
On Thursday, a witness testified that the deceased was found with her tongue protruding while white foam came out of her nostrils.
Trial continues next week.
