A Malawian man, Misozi Chanthunya who murdered his Zimbabwean girlfriend Linda Gasa 10 years ago, was this morning sentenced to life imprisonment by a Malawian court.
Michael Gwarisa
Speaking to HealthTimes on the development, Lucky Mkandawire, a Malawian Journalist who was covering the proceedings and works for the country’s leading English daily The Nation, confirmed that a Malawi High Court sitting in the country’s old capital city Zomba had sentenced Chanthunya to life imprisonment for contrary to Section 209 of the Penal Code though murdering his girlfriend Linda Gasa, a Zimbabwean national.
Judge Ruth Chinangwa also sentenced the astute businessperson Misozi Chanthunya to two years imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for perjury and hindering the burial of a dead body contrary to sections 101 and 131 of the Penal Code respectively.
“The judge said the two sentences will run concurrently from the date of his conviction. The said the brief facts are that the convict murdered Gasa as medical reports submitted recorded that the deceased was poisoned; smothered and stabbed four times before being buried in a bathroom of her love’s cottage in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.”
In mitigation, the convict through his counsel Michael Goba Chipeta prayed for a 10 year sentence arguing the accused was a first offender and that he already spent seven years in pretrial custody in South Africa. He further mitigated that the conviction was based on circumstantial evidence and did not show a clear motive and that the accused is not a threat and there is no likelihood of him committing offence.
Chipeta has described the sentence as unfair and they were ready for appeal at the country’ highest court Supreme Court of Appeal. Gasa is believed to have been murdered on August 4 2010 at a private cottage in Mangochi while Chanthunya left the country on August 19 2010.
Police issued a warrant for his arrest on September 21 2010. He was arrested in 2012 after the Malawi Government wrote the South African Government to arrest him.
Lead counsel for the State Steve Kayuni prayed for life imprisonment arguing the killing was unprovoked and in cold blood. He expressed contentment with the sentence.
Judge Ruth Chinangwa in her judgement on Monday said Chanthunya was responsible for the death of Gasa at his family’s private cottage in Monkey Bay, Mangochi, where the body was found entombed under concrete. Chanthunya was in live relationship with Zimbabwean woman who was studying at College of Accountancy in Blantyre.
Court records show that he poisoned the girlfriend in Mangochi where the two had gone to discuss a pregnancy and buried her body in a cottage. It later transpired that Gasa did not have the pregnancy.
Chanthunya then fled to South Africa before he was extradited back to Malawi a few years ago to answer the murder charges.
