A 32-YEAR-OLD commando of Kalewa barracks in Ndola who battered his wife for allegedly denying him sex, about a week ago, has appeared in the Ndola magistrate’s court for plea.
Luckson Malanga, 32, a soldier, of Kalewa barracks in Ndola, who is facing a charge of assault told the Ndola magistrate’s court that he assaulted his wife because he found her with a taxi driver in the house who is believed to be her boyfriend.
Malanga also told the court on Thursday before magistrate Chitundu Chongo that he assaulted his wife because she wanted to suffocate their four-month-old daughter with a pillow and told him that she would tell police that he was the one who had killed their baby in the event that the baby was to die.
He told the court that he assaulted his wife using fists and kicks after he received a phone call from the people manning the gate at Kalewa barracks that they had seen his wife with a taxi driver whom they alleged to be her boyfriend.
“Your honour, I received a phone call from my friends in Kalewa barracks that they had seen my wife with a taxi driver who is her boyfriend. So when I went to the house to check, I found them in the house but the man fled,” Malanga said.
Malanga also told the court that his efforts to apprehend the man proved futile even after giving chase.
Particulars of the offence are that on May 4, this year in Ndola, Malanga assaulted Hezel Mbewe, his wife, thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.
He admitted the charge.
But Ms Chongo said the court would enter a plea of not guilty against the accused as his plea was equivocal.
And the state has rejected Malanga’s application for bail on grounds that the safety of their daughter was at stake.
In objecting to Malanga’s application for bail, public prosecutor Michael Mwalila told the court that the accused always got involved in fierce fights with his wife hence the safety of the baby was not guaranteed as long as the accused remained outside.
The matter comes up on June 13, for mention.