19780512 TZHC Dodoma

IN THE HIGH COURT OF TANZANIA Ifre• I2.,tøf'd44• AT KONDOA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION (DODOMA REGISTRY) CRIMINAL SESSIONS CASE NO. 135 OF 1977 THE REPUBLIC VERSUS HASSAN s/o ATI-iUMJ\N charge: Attempted Murder' c/s 211(1)of the Penal Coci.. JUD..GMET JONATHAN J. HASSAN ATHUMANI is chaged with attempted murder c/s 211(1) of the Penal Code, it being the prosecution allegation tht on May 29 9 1976 at Kimala in the disttict of Kondoa he ntLerlQt.c1 to murder his wife HAWA D/O ATHUMANIhy shooting a poi.snhd arrow at her. This he has denied0 The facts or the case are brIef. P.W.l, t1i.. comnloinant woman had ben married to the dccused for seven y. ars previously to the incident andthe union had brought forth ti -ira' offspring of whom one child had however died. However', .f or sL.rft time previously to the reievant day she had left him, fo11owiig a quarrel, to stay with'.her parents nearby in the same vi1lag. Thr.. is considerable discrepancy as to the period of this s ration, P.W.1 giving it as about one week and—a—half, P.W02 her sist. .r as one month while P.W.4 estimated it to be one year. Whatecr: it was, how ever, they had ben living apart, this despite the eccus;c1' once making a fruitless move to get her back home. On the material day the complainant acompnid P.W.2 to the latter's millet shamba about one mile or sc away to harvest the crop0 At about 9.00 a.m, while sp enqaqed P,W.l fit sorrething hit her at the back of her left foot. She looked t. find sha , had been hit by an arrow. Sht= swiftly pulled it out rcJ analarrn. P.W.2 had been working only 'a fewpaces away and'she quickly came to her aid. The two sister's upon looking th.und saw a person they recognised as the accused in a crouching position having a bow and. arrow about 34 paces away0 P.W,4 undoubtedly angry followed him and asked why he. had .donethat0 To this he warned her lest she should suffer the satre fate as her,sis'ter. She would therefore not move any nearer a'd just then people came in response to the alarm, whereupon the accused fled. Somece using apiece of. cloth he tore off tho complainant's dress promptly tied it firmly on the leg at the knee t. provCnt any poison circulating in the blood stream. At the same time native medicine was applied to the wound. This was nne •.ther than the urine of a child. From there the complainant was taken to tIie Mrijo Chini Police Post together with the arrow, from whre she proceeded to the local dispensary f.or further tr'itraent. This was provided by p.w.3 MATHIAS, a dresser of that dispensaiy. He has described the wound as one inch in 'length and quarter cf afl inch /man of in depth. Though a/great experience., he is undoub.t.dly, as would be expected, a person of very little, if any, professional training. Therefore, despite the geniiine ffort he seems to hay.; mck to measure or estimate the. size of. the wound as,giVenigj10 report which, I may say, he himself had difficulty in reeWtnrj, not much reliance can be had on his evidence, as regards thi pf that injury. - 2 Suffice it to say, howeVer, that he observed and tre atad it. "' r At the scene the complàindrit after pullinj ut the arrow found the arrow head to have a sticky substance which sh; thought was poison. She was right for, the report .cf the Gev.xnitnt Chemist following his examination of that suhataiice •showsthat th. arrow head had a poison known as ouabain of a dosage nrly feur times the minimum lethal dose. According -LD the complainant, th arrow was that of the accused0 The metal head is about six inches long with two hooks pointing away from the tip about 4 inches from it. It is big and sharp and one is at once awe—stricken at its sight. The arrow did not land on a particu]. irly vulnere1 -)_1. part of the body while there is little evidence from which to gaucje how much Ito force was used on the bow, but h-avia regardLits inh(_ , rently lethal nature and the fact that its poisoned to ih..t devastating degree, we are in no doubt that the person who fired it intended to take the life of the complaihint and 'thanks tc-th. men who /the tied round that leg and the wisdom in giving/locally accuptad first—aid, she would have died. - The accused in a brief, ur';worn statement lies said he was not responsible for the incident and ha put up en niib,i in that at the relevant time he was working it Zajilw a in th iliihboüing district of Dodoma. He has called his sister to b.x: him cut, and this she has done. According to he the. adcused .j4ned her in that area only in the month of Nay. :976 and at the tirna of his arrest in January, 1977 he was working there, )Cross--exaffline.cUby the learned state attorney she candidly admitted, howaver, that she does not know which period of the month this is and thot sh... , has no idea whateveL 6bout dates. In the end . she said she nly thought of saying. he had come at the beinning of tb. month. Undoubtedly, at best the witness di not know wliat sb.. was talking about and at worst she was telling -a deliberate 1i cut of that natural desire tb et her brother out of touble. There is, as already noted, some discrOpancy in the posecution case as tot tlie peribd he complainant had been living apart from the accused when the incident occurrjL. Such discrepancy, however, has little bearing on the real issue, whil-.: I am satisfied that the witnesses were not being deliberately uri-triathful about it and that it all stems from laps: of memory. The two. sisters impressed me as beinq basically truthful. They both S em to have had a clear view of the attacker and 5.. the case of..W.2 she not only followed and got close to that per5n but she also exciiangzid a' few words with him. It was in bread day light.and as they knew the occused so intimately, there could have been 'io poLeibi1ity of mistaking another person for him. That they wec rnot mistaken thre is the complainant's evidence that the' arrow was tht if, the accu.d. Considering the evidence as a whole, I am a spectfu1ly in full agree- ment with the getlemen assessors that the arrow was fired by a person none other than the accused and that hb mov.d to Zaj!l'iJa only after cerimitting the offence. We accordingly convict him as charged. Delivered in open court this 12th day of May, 1978. / P.M. JONATH'\N '. JUE ..:' Mr. Alimwike: Acused is a firs': .offendr, Mr. Banturak- Accus d is 49 y st old an 1 h. hs r _n in ron-nP for two years. He has depdantE and has a good recordo I pray for leniency for him. -3 . - In answer, to:Cdurt: Right now the children are wtth the mother. - Accused: I have nothing to add. SE N T E N CE The brutal attack was senseless0 The complainant had left the accused0 Subsequently, he made a move to ;t h..::r back, but that proved fruitless0 Did it serve any purpose then to take her life? Clearly, the accused has little respect for human life and this court finds it necessary to impose a heavy sent ace. Taking into account, however that he has already spent two y-ars in remand, he is hereby sentenced to 7 years' Imprisonment. Right of appeal explaind. The assessors are thanked and discharqed. P. M. JONATHAN JUDGE