19791226 TZHC Tabora

V -. 14 e- IN THE HIGH COURT OF.PANZANIA AT TABORA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION '. (Tabora Registry) '' \ vz- 979. CThIN4L. SESI.CNS' CASErc;24 OF p. I. THE REPUBLIC . '' 7, versus V V V V V KAPEI'BA DOTTO r V CHARGE: MURDER CONTRARY TO SECTION 196 OI HE PENAL CODE. JUDGMENT CHIPETA,J' The'accused, ICAPEMBA D/O'DOTTO, • andsclaged with the offenbe of murder. The prosecution has alleged that on or about 22nd September, 1979, the accused murdered one 0 BUHOLO D/O KADETELWAO The aäused entered a plea of "not V• V V• guilty" :tJ the charge V . Toprove thea charge, the prosecution adduced the following evidence the accused IS' a married woman, and. at the material time she had a 6 month old baby the deceasea. A row days or so prior to the incident, relatives o the accused were informed that the accused was nentally ill. An uncle, of-the acc.used.then went to take the accused. from:.: h..r matrimonial ome and brought her to his..home at V ..Keme1a village., - Kascia ward, in Nzega District, so that. VV: she could undergomedical treatment by native doctors. V Trio accused, however, did not responc to that treatment. V On 22nd Septemb.' r, 197 6 , the deceased was taken, to . the accused who was sleeping in a room,. . -SometViie later, thO accused came out of the room without the deceased. V V Shortly after that a brother of the accused.V'(PW..3) entered that room to. fetch wate. On entering the room, he was • shocked to find the deceased lying,Von the floor iith- injuries on the throat - , left cheek and armpit. He called in people who intered the, room .anV& saw that the deceased was dead. The 'accused was th'en apprehended, and as sho was violent, she was tied with ropes. V Police arrived the next day and took the dead body and the accused to Nzega where an autopsy was conducted on the body of the deceased. 0 S • • • • 0 • • • . /2 In the opinion of the Doctor who conducted the autopsy, the cause of death of the deceased was haer.orrhage from the three .njuries sustained by the deceased, particularly that on the throat which severed the jugular veins The injuries, in the Doctor's opinion, were caused by a blunt instrument such as teeth0 The accus:d was then charged with this offenc. When called upon to defend herself, the accused simply said: do not know how to defend myself because I was insane at the time. I have nothing ci se to say". After my summing up to the two gentlemen assessors they were p1 the u.nanimous view that it was the accused who killed the deceased, but that at the time she did the act she was of unsound mind, and so she did not know what she was doing or that she ought not to do it. I concur0 The accused and the deceased were the only people in that room up to the time the accused came out wtbout the chile... Shortly after that, the child was fotnc dead in t1iat room. The circumstantial evidence leads to no other reasonable conclusion than that it was the accused who killed the deceased Was she sane at the time?: Ido not think so.'. All the prosecution witnesses told t1ii court that the accused was of unsound mind both before and after this incident. This ties up with what thc accused herself has told this court and the report of the psychiatrist. There can, tI'refore bu no doubt at all that at the time she killed her own bby, the accused was of unsound mind, ard therefore, incapable of knowing what she was doing or that she ought not to dpit.. That being the position, I make a special finding that although the a ccused killed the deceased in circumstances that would otherwise be murder, I find that by reason of her unsoundress of mind at the time the act was done, She is not guilty of the offence. (Sgd..) B. P. CHIPETA, JUDGE. 6 0 • 0 0 • • O' /3 -3- ODR: In view of the special finding recoxded above, in accordance with the provisthons of secion 168 (1) and (2) (a) of th Criminal Procedure Code, I order that a certified copy of these proceedings be submitted to the Finister. - I4eanwhiie the accused shall be kept in custQdy as a criminal lunatic. 46D B. D. CHIP TA, JUDBE. Delivered in open court this 26th day of December, 1979 , B. D. CHIPETA, JUDGE.