Benos committed to High Court

Fri, 19 May 2017 13:10:13 +0000

By CHARLES MUSONDA

 MURDER accused Tshiabu Benos has been committed to the High Court for trial for allegedly killing her boyfriend Reeves Malambo.

The committal has dealt a technical blow to the preliminary inquiry into the murder which she had applied for last week. When the matter came up before Magistrate Albert Mwaba yesterday, public prosecutor Christopher Nyambe informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had issued instructions to commit Benos to the High Court for trial.

In her application for the preliminary inquiry, Benos accused the late Mr. Malambo of attempting to decapitate her on the fateful day.

She said prior to the incident, he locked her up in the bedroom where he tried to decapitate her using a knife he got from the pantry.

She said it was during the struggle when Mr. Malambo got injured and died later at the hospital. Benos said Mr. Malambo had earlier phoned and sent her several messages threatening to kill her.

She said after her arrest, the arresting officer confiscated her mobile phone as part of evidence to be used in court. She said, however, she was later informed that the phone had been given to the deceased’s daughter, Nkombo. Benos said when the phone was released, everything on it was deleted, an act which might be prejudicial to her defence. She further said that the house, being the scene of the crime, was broken into and a lot of material evidence was destroyed while under police guard.

Benos therefore asked the court to determine whether there was evidence to suggest that there was any aforethought or other motive to kill the deceased.

She wanted the court to cross-examine Nkombo on how she got the phone without the court’s permission.

Benos further wanted the court to cross-examine the doctor and the receptionist who attended to Mr. Malambo at the hospital.