Gold Panner Rapes, Beheads Estranged Wife, Attempts Suicide
A gold panner from Binga is fighting for his life at Binga District Hospital where he is reportedly unconscious after a botched suicide attempt.
Lastmore Ngwenya (24) tried to kill himself after he had raped and beheaded his wife, Muchite Munkuli (23), who had ended their relationship.
The couple is from Chamateme village under Chief Siachilaba in Binga District and the two were married for an undisclosed period of time.
According to prosecutors, Munkuli fell sick in October last year and consulted a self-proclaimed prophet who told her she had been bewitched by her husband’s father prompting her to pack her bags and leave her matrimonial home to live with her parents.
The matter involving the couple’s separation was heard by Chief Siachilaba on Christmas Eve after village head Amos Mungombe had referred the matter to the higher traditional court after failing to reconcile the couple.
Chief Siachilaba summoned the two’s families and on December 24, ruled that the marriage was no longer safe and a consensus was reached for the couple to separate and share property.
However, on the next day, which was Christmas Day, Ngwenya allegedly killed his wife and then cut his own throat with an unknown sharp object.
Munkuli’s bloodstained body was found by her sister around 8 am and had a deep cut on the throat, both palms and chin, with her undergarment torn and removed to knee level while there was semen on her privates.
Binga magistrate Urgent Vundla remanded Mnkuli to next week Friday on his hospital bed for a charge of murder and rape.
