Kaliati fury with brutal death of Lilongwe woman: Hubby killed her for delaying to open door for him

Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati, has described as shocking and uncalled for the death of 34-year-old Lilongwe woman, Christina Rodwell, who was allegedly killed by her husband for delaying to open door for him.

Rodwell died at the hands of her husband, Rodwell Mtifunsire, at Matawale Village, Traditional Authority Mtema in Lilongwe on Monday when she delayed to open the door for her husband who was reportedly coming from visiting a second wife, according to police.

The man was seen by people in the community dragging the body of his wife into the house and when confronted, he feigned that he had gone to practice witchcraft with his wife and that they had been involved in an accident hence the condition of his wife.

The matter was immediately reported to Kanengo police who took Rodwell into custody and his wife’s body to Kamuzu Central Hospital for postmortem where it transpired that she had died of internal bleeding.

Kanengo Police Spokesperson, Esther Mkwanda, said upon second interrogation Mtifunsire, 41, who hails from Kamanga Village, T/A Kabudula, Lilongwe, confessed that he had hit Christina hard before she died.

“He said the woman had delayed to open the door for him when he returned from a second wife and this infuriated him,” explained Mkwanda. “When she opened the door, Mtifunsire banged her hard against the wall in anger.”

But reacting to the news, Kaliati expressed shock and said her ministry would not relent until Mtifunsire face justice.

“This is extremely shocking and uncalled for in our society,” said Kaliati in an interview. “In the first place it should be appreciated that wives are not guards employed to keep watch round the clock.

“It’s very sad that a life is carelessly lost like that when the matter could be sorted out amicably: this is extremely sad and gender-based violence of highest order.”

The minister commended the police for intervening and the media for laying bare such gender-based violence and she further urged the media to publicize the legal frameworks that government enacted to curb such practices and maximum sentences involved when one is found guilty.

Meanwhile, Mtifunsire is on remand at Maula Prison pending court appearance soon after the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) scrutinizes his file, according to Kanengo police spokesperson, Mkwanda.

Murder charge is contrary to Section 209 of the Penal Code and attracts a maximum sentence of Life Imprisonment with Hard Labour if one is found guilty by the court of law.

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