I didn’t kill my father, he fell down from the stairs – Son tells court
20 year old student, Madiba Zulu, accused of collaborating with the mother beat up his father and sent him to an early grave has told the court that the deceased died after he fell from the stairs when having a quarrel with his mother, Mildred Kasase.
Madiba denied hitting his father with a trunk and pushed him down stairs as alleged by one of the witnesses.
He said he only separated the fight when he found his father on top of his mother punching her.
Madiba confessed that he wouldn’t kill his father whom he loved.
“Dad fell off the stairs when having an altercation with mom in the house,” he said.
In this case, Kasase who worked at the Ministry of Finance and her son, Madiba are accused of beating to death, Alex Zulu.
Zulu allegedly died in suspicious circumstances and was later buried but his relatives later demanded for an autopsy which revealed that the deceased had endured broken bones, fractured limbs, shattered ribs, and an array of bodily injuries, all attributed to the alleged assault.
Madiba testified in his defence that on July 28, 2023 as he woke up in the morning, he found his mom wasn’t around but came back later after dropping his sister.
“I found mom wasn’t around and my dad was there, we talked of school fees as I was doing school staff and later mom came home, she dropped off my younger sister. I had continued engaging myself with school work, then mom told me she could come back, she told me to use dads car to pick her up. Later I and my siblings went to sleep,” he said.
Madiba said the following morning, he found his mother seated in the sitting room as his father hooted in front of the gate.
“I went to open the gate and went inside the house in my room, I heard a big noise from the kitchen and heard my mom shout my name, I rushed to the kitchen only to find dad on top of mom punching her, I managed to separate the two and ran outside,” he said.
He said he started hearing some noise in the house sounding like someone was breaking things.
“I started hearing noise in the house sounding like someone is breaking things, dad came outside and picked something like a screen fan, threw it at mom but it missed her, he went back in the house, I told him to stop then he lost balance and fell down the stairs. A moment later dad walked outside the house and drove off,” he said.
Madiba said later in the night his father came back but not with his car he usually use and seems to have had an accident and had injured his hand.
“Later the same night dad came back,this time he didn’t come with his car, he went to his room while leaving mom and my siblings in the sitting room. Later on he told me to book a taxi as he went to the hospital and I remained home, mom told me I had to prepare to go to the hospital with her.”
“I booked a taxi and went to the hospital. When I got there I found dad laying down that he wanted to have a surgery, the doctors walked in and mom asked if it was okay to operate on someone who had taken alcohol but dad insisted that the doctors shouldn’t listen to what mom said.” He said.
He said his father went into the theatre and he walked outside of the hospital.
“They went into the theatre and we walked outside. Later dad came and mom told me and my brother to go back home, but Mom insisted I should start praying. Later around 17: hours I received a text saying my condolences, I knew dad had passed away,” he said.
And during cross examination, the Prosecution team asked if he assaulted his father by breaking his arm? He denied the allegation.
Further asked if he sent a text message to his cousin saying he threw a trunk at his father and pushed him from the stairs, Madiba responded that he doesn’t remember sending any text messages on a material day.
And when his lawyer questioned his relationship with his father, he said he had a very good relationship.
“Your father beats your mother? Yes, he could also beat me and my siblings,” he responded.
“I cannot kill my father I love him.”
The court has since set May 2, 2025 for Judgement.
By Lucy Phiri
Kalemba February 28, 2025