(Daily Mail)-A 33-Year-old man of Kapata Township in Chipata has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour for killing his friend, who provoked him after refusing to buy him beer at a bar.
Dalitso Daka hit Darlington Shawa with a stone around the abdominal cavity on New Year in 2021.
Daka appeared before Chipata High Court Resident Judge Mercy Makubalo for one count of murder, which was later reduced to manslaughter.
Facts before the court are that on January 1, 2021, Daka was drinking beer at Chill Point bar within Kapata Township and he was approached by Shawa, who requested for beer from him.
Daka refused to give Shawa the beer and started beating him.
“The accused [now convict] managed to escape and went home. The deceased followed him home and a fight again started. During the fight, the accused got a stone and hit the deceased with it around the abdominal cavity,” the statement of facts reads in part. The deceased sustained injuries
and was rushed to Chipata Central Hospital, where he died the same day.
A post-mortem report shows that the deceased died as a result of traumatic perforation peritonitis.
Daka was then arrested and charged with one count of murder, which was reduced to manslaughter, an offence he admitted committing.
Upon his own admission of the charge, Ms Justice Makubalo convicted him accordingly.
In mitigation, the convict asked the court to exercise leniency when sentencing him.
Daka asked the court to take into consideration the fact that the deceased was the one who provoked him and even followed him to his house despite avoiding him at the bar.
He told the court he was sorry that his action led to the death of his friend.
However, Ms Justice Makubalo sentenced the convict to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour with effect from the date of his arrest.
She informed the convict of his right to appeal against the sentence if he was aggrieved with her order.
