The High Court in Blantyre has acquitted three men who were facing manslaughter charges over the death of their relative, Chikondi Mmangitsa, in 2021.
According to the Malawi Legal Aid Bureau, the three are Owen Chisala, Sekani Ausman, and Don Mlenga, who were accused of causing Mmangitsa’s death on May 21, 2021, after tying him up during a funeral ceremony.
The court heard that Mmangitsa, who was drunk, disrupted the funeral and assaulted a traditional leader who was attending the ceremony.
The three men intervened, stopped him, and took him to another house. However, Mmangitsa freed himself and returned to the funeral, where he continued disrupting the ceremony.
The men then tied him to a tree, but he later became unconscious and was taken to hospital, where he died.
Medical evidence presented in court showed that Mmangitsa died from low blood sugar and asphyxia.
The Bureau said medical personnel also told the court that they found no food in Mmangitsa’s stomach, a condition consistent with a person who had gone without food for between eight and 21 days.
The medical evidence further showed that starvation alone had lowered his blood sugar to a level capable of causing death, even without the restraint.
The court found that the three men did not have malicious intent when they restrained Mmangitsa.
It ruled that their actions were necessary and reasonable under Section 18 of the Penal Code because they had initially attempted to restrain him lightly, but he freed himself and continued disrupting the funeral.
The court also found that the lack of food in Mmangitsa’s body, which was unrelated to the three accused, contributed to his death.
The men were represented by Principal Legal Aid Advocate Chikondi Kasambara after receiving assistance from the Legal Aid Bureau.
Based on the medical evidence and circumstances surrounding the restraint, the court found that there was no sufficient basis for the three men to answer to the manslaughter charge and ordered their acquittal.
