By Solister Mogha
Zomba, September 6, Mana: Misonzi Chanthunya who murdered his ex-girlfriend, Linda Gasa in 2010 has been sentenced to life imprisonment by High Court in Zomba.
Delivering the judgment on Friday at the court, Judge Ruth Chinangwa said what Chanthunya did was the same as what the beast could do as killing her girlfriend was an already premeditated act that required no mercy.
Judge Chinangwa said Chanthunya in his act committed three offences and these were: murder contrary to Section 209, Perjury contrary to Section 101 and Smoldering and Hindering burial of a dead body contrary to Section 131 of the Penal Code.
“From all the evidence, the suspect pretty well knew what he would do to the girlfriend who loved him the most.
“Chanthunya had earlier on planned to dump Linda Gasa in a river but this did not work and he then drove her to Mangochi at his cottage where he gave her poison, smoldered and stabbed her four times and then buried her in a bathroom,” Chinangwa said.
She said all these acts were barbaric and portrayed the violent nature of Chanthunya whom she added acted like a beast.
“The court is convinced that, for the case of murder, he is therefore sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge said.
When the police investigated the matter in 2010, Chanthunya told them was not aware of where his Zimbabwean girlfriend Linda was.
“And for perjury where he lied about not knowing the where-about of his girlfriend having been the last person to be with her, he is hereby given two years while, for smoldering and hindering burial of the dead body, the court gives him another two years in prison,” she said.
Judge Chinangwa said there was no reason for Chanthunya to poison smolder and stab Gasa to death because she was her girlfriend, the person whom she loved.
“The deceased was a loved child, aunt, sister and a relative whom the family depended on, as such, the suspect committed a serious offence that calls for justice,” Chinangwa said.
The judge has since ordered that all the three sentences should run concurrently since the acts of killing Gasa happened in a concurrent nature.
There was dead silence after the judgment was delivered as Chanthunya was seen very surprised and could not believe he was going to spend all his life in prison.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, Lawyer for Chanthunya, Michael Goba Chipeta said the determination by the court was a clear testimony of unfair trial that should never ever be condoned in the country’s judicial system.
Chipeta said the court had used the affidavits that were earlier rejected to be part of the case and that some of the things mentioned as reasons for giving the sentences were not the evidences of the case.
“If there is an example of unfair trial, this is one of them because the court has failed to deliver justice and we will appeal to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Lawyer for the State, Dr. Steven Kayuni said though the state would have loved Chanthunya to be given a death sentence, they were happy that there was justice to the issue.
Kayuni said death sentence is still in the country’s laws and looking at the nature of the case, death sentence was the best.
“We are satisfied with the judgment and we know that at last justice has prevailed,” Kayuni said.
Misonzi Chanthunya, a well-known businessperson was arrested in 2010 for killing his ex-girlfriend Linda Gasa at his cottage in Mangochi.
He flew out of the country to South Africa where he sought refuge for seven years before being repatriated by the South-African Police back to Malawi. It is exactly ten years since he murdered her girlfriend.
