Yes, me and my wife beat the maid but she died of porridge burns, medic tells court
A medic has narrated to the Lusaka High Court how he and his wife took turns beating their 14-year-old maid the night before her death.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12FSX7EASFt/?mibextid=oFDknk
Smart Mumba, a 36-year old nurse and lecturer is facing a charge of murder along with his wife Majory Chanda, a medical doctor, aged 30.
The couple of Lusaka’s Chalala area is said to have on August 29, 2023 savagely beaten their young house helper, Janet Chola Mpundu who died hours after the brutal assault.
Taking the stand yesterday to weave himself and his wife from a possible life imprisonment, Smart Mumba opened his defence with s categorical denial of the allegation of murder.
While admitting that him and his wife took turns in beating the girl after she dropped their child, the cause of her death was the hot porridge that spilled on her as she tried to escape his wrath.
Mumba testified that him and his wife imported the deceased from a village in Mansa to help them with chores and taking care of their young twins when they were out working.
He said on the night in question, his wife was in the kitchen preparing supper, while the deceased was with the younger twin in the living room watching TV, and he was in the bedroom conducting online classes on Zoom.
“I then suddenly heard the babies crying so I panicked I came out to the living room to find out why they were crying. I asked my son and the deceased why the babies were crying, both could not answer, and the maid was busy watching TV whilst holding the young baby and all of a sudden in front of my eyes she dropped him,” he said.
Mumba said the baby fell in a standing position and hit himself on the floor; his eyes were open, but he did not blink for 5 to 10 seconds.
“I tried to shake him and called his name he couldn’t respond and he was stiff. I tried to check the back of his head to see if he was bleeding, there was no blood but he was unconscious.”
“Because of the impact that was felt on his legs when he was dropped, his legs are still bend, they’re not straight.. its more like a deformity,” he said.
He said when he saw his son lying on the floor lifeless and not moving, he was deeply disturbed thinking he had died because he was unconscious.
“During this period my wife came rushing from the kitchen seeing the baby lying on the floor and not moving she started screaming and shouting. She started giving him CPR,” he said.
Mumba said the situation enraged beyond control that with anger, he tore the belt from his trousers and unleashed a relentless barrage of lashes upon the young girl.
He said during the beating, the girl fell to the ground in the living room, then got up and run to the kitchen, with him in pursuit. He stated that in the kitchen, she collided with a hot pot containing porridge intended for preparing nshima.
“The pot fell and the porridge spilled on both of us. The porridge had spilled on Janet’s head both sides of her cheeks around the neck both hands and legs. It poured on me on both of my hands and on my trousers on both legs. I got burnt on my right wrist, there are visible scars,” he said.
He said after the incident, he rushed to the tap to cool his burns because they were painful while Janet ran outside.
“As she was running outside I heard a sound of someone falling from outside. I quickly realised that the same way I was burnt she was also burnt, i left the belt in the kitchen and took a bucket full of water went outside and started pouring water on her starting from the head, the neck, the legs and the hand l found her in a lying position.”
“I asked her to get inside, she refused so I struggled getting inside so I started dragging her by one hand. Outside it was a concrete wall which was roughly surfaces,” he said.
Mumba recounted that he had carried the deceased into the house through the kitchen door, at which point his wife informed him that the baby had been resuscitated and was awake. He stated that his wife then became enraged about the carelessness and proceeded to beat the maid with a belt.
He stated that after a while, his wife prepared food and called him and everyone to eat, but he refused because he was still seething about the incident.
Mumba reported that Janet was also summoned to the table to eat, and afterwards, she proceeded to the kitchen to do the dishes.
“When she was asked by my wife if she was okay, she said only the pain from the porridge burn and the bruises she sustained outside. My oldest son went to sleep, Janet was also told to make her bed, she was sleeping in the passage.”
“She got the mattress and bedding and made her bed and slept after she was given Panadol because of the pain. She was told to wake up early in the morning as we were taking her to UTH were we had booked an appointment for her,” he said.
He said when his wife woke up, she went to see Janet, but came but that she tried to wake her up but she was weak and she was not breathing well.
“I rushed there where she was sleeping, when I realised that she was labouring for breath, I started doing the CPR on her to help her breath, Whilst resuscitating her she started removing water from the nose and the mouth and her abdomen sounded as it was occupied full of water.”
“Later on her extremities and the hands became cold, the eye pupils became dilated and fixed and no pulse was felt from anywhere, I knew she was dead,” he testified.
With that testimony, the adjourned to February 25, 2025 for continued defence.
By Lucy Phiri
Kalemba February 13, 2025
Home Court