Man gets life sentence for killing ex-girlfriend’s son
By Esther Chisola
A LUSAKA man has been sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour after strangling his ex-girlfriend’s five-year-old son.
Bornface Banda was facing one count of murder, a charge he denied,
Allegations were that on September 10, 2019, Banda allegedly murdered Charles Mvula jnr, the son to his former girlfriend Mary Chilala.
During trial, the court heard that Charles went missing on September 10, 2019 after his mother went to sell samosas and left him at a neighbours house in Chainda.
According to court records, Chilala returned home around 11:00 hours and started looking for Charles who did not go to school on the fateful day due to non-payment of school fees.
Chilala told court that she consistently asked Banda about the whereabouts of her son because his friend told her that her former boyfriend was with him.
She narrated that Banda was a known person to her neighbours because he frequently visited her house after she ended the relationship in an effort to reconcile with her.
Chilala said at some point Banda threatened to do something bad to her if she continued refusing to reconcile with him.
She submitted Charles was close to Banda that he sometimes called him daddy and uncle.
Chilala said the body of Charles was later found in a sack at a nearby dump site with a plastic bag tied around the neck and over his head.
A postmodern conducted by Dr Adam Mucheleganga, a pathologist concluded that the death was as a result of strangulation.
According to court records through various testimony, police officers searched Banda’s house and shop where they found strings, a black plastic bag and sack which were similar to those found on the body of the deceased.
In his defence, Banda argued that he did not murder Charles as he was close to him and that his relationship with him never ended despite ending the relationship with Chilala.
He contended that the similar strings, plastic bag and sack found in his house and shop were not the same as those found on the deceased.
However, when the matter came up for judgement before Justice Mwape Bowa, the court found him guilty and convicted him accordingly.
Justice Bowa ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt on grounds that the accused had an opportunity to strangle the child when he visited him at his house on the fateful day.
The court further ruled that the accused was the one who placed the body into two empty sacks he had at his house.
“I find that he then used some of the polythene strings that he had in his shop to tie the plastic around the boys head. I accept that he then put the child on the bicycle and went and dumped him where he was discovered. And I therefore sentence Bornface Banda to life imprisonment with hard labour,” Justice Bowa said.
