Man to hang for killing child

                                            

RESIDENT of Kilombero District in Morogoro Region, Juma Luluba, is to be hanged to death for killing his two-and-half year old step-daughter, Bahati Kiswamba, for urinating and discharging faeces on the bed whilst asleep.

Luluba, the appellant, is said to have severely beaten the helpless baby girl and poured hot water onto her body when she had discharged urine and faeces on the bed. Justices Kipenka Mussa, Stella Mugasha and Jacobs Mwambegele upheld the decision imposed on the appellant by the High Court after dismissing the appeal he had lodged to challenge both conviction and the death sentence.

“We are satisfied, as the (trial) judge, that the prosecution established its case to the hilt. In the result, the conviction and sentence are unassailable and, accordingly, this appeal fails and is dismissed in its entirety,” they declared.

During hearing of the appeal, the appellant had alleged that the trial judge erred in law and in fact in convicting him against the weight of evidence and despite contradictions in the prosecution’s case.

Among contradictions related to different dates of commission of offence either January 13 or 14, 2015. In their judgment, however, the justices noted some inconsistencies on the testimonies of witnesses, but the issues were addressed by the trial judge with sufficient details and that the same did not detract from the material story that it was the appellant, who inflicted the fatal injuries on the deceased.

“It should also be noted that whereas the incidence occurred in January 2005, the witnesses were called to testimony in April 2010, which was more than five years post the occurrence,” the justices conclusively remarked when sealing the last nail on the coffin.

Facts of the case show that the appellant and the infant’s mother were living at Namawala Village in Kilombero District. The deceased had been born out of her mother’s relationship with another man. On the fateful day, around 1.00 pm or so, the deceased passed urine and faeces on the bed whilst asleep.

Despite her mother’s assurance that she would clear the dirt, the appellant was still angry. He picked a stick with which he repeatedly beat both the mother and the deceased. As the beatings continued, the mother ran out of the house to seek assistance from neighbours.

The mother left a pot on the fireplace which was full of boiling water. One neighbour volunteered to offer an assistance and accompanied the mother to her house.

Upon arrival the deceased welcomed the neighbour with a hug. Her mother, however, noticed that the deceased had additional burn wounds on her back. As the pot of boiling water was no longer on the fireplace. She suspected that the appellant had poured its contents on the deceased.