Court sentences lovebirds to death for murder

KAGERA: THE High Court, Bukoba Sub-Registry, has sentenced two young lovers, Clian Christopher and Felister Petro, to death by hanging for killing a boy aged 15 years, Fortunatus Paschal, after exposing the secret of their love affairs to other people.

Judge Monica Otaru imposed such capital punishment against the accused persons after convicting them of murder, an offence which was committed on the night of March 2, 2021, at Masheshe Village within Kyerwa District in Kagera Region.

“I am, therefore, satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused Clian Christopher, alias Chide and Felister Petro, are guilty of the offence of murder contrary to section 196 of the Penal Code and I convict them as such,” she declared in her judgment delivered recently.

Before imposing the capital sentence, the judge inquired into the appropriate age of the accused persons as, in their defence evidence, they gave testimonies suggesting that they were under 18 years, thus exempted from such punishment under 226 of the Penal Code.

She sought for assistance from the Social Welfare Office as amicus curiae, to enquire into the ages of both accused persons under section 113 of the Law of The Child Act.

According to the Social Enquiry Report dated October 27, 2023, Christopher was born in 1997 and started primary education in January 2004.

Because his exact date of birth is not known, it may be assumed that he was born on the last day of that year, that is, in December 1997. In that case, in March 2021 at the time the offence was committed, he had already celebrated his 23rd birthday. On the part of Felister, was born in 2002 and started primary education in 2009.

Her exact date is also not known. Making the same assumption as was for Christopher, Felister had already attained eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the commission of the offence.

Therefore, both accused persons had attained the age of 18 years when they committed the offence charged.

They had full control of their actions and knew the consequences thereof. I, therefore, sentence each one of them to suffer death by hanging as per the law.” she declared.

Before reaching a finding, the judge examined the evidence tendered during the trial and noted that both accused persons made confessions to have committed the crime charged in their cautioned statements.

The judge also pointed out that when their respective cautioned statements were tendered in court none of them objected to their admission and both accused, at the Preliminary Hearing conducted on April 20, 2023, admitted to have made the statements.

She further observed that they maintained their stance even at the trial when the cautioned statements were tendered and in their defence. Under the circumstances, the judge had no scintilla of doubt that cautioned statements were made by the accused voluntarily.

“As such, even if there had been no other evidence corroborating the confessional statements, a conviction could still be based solely on them. The prosecution has established that the killing of the deceased was done by the accused persons,” she said.

The other question that was answered is whether the killing was done with malice aforethought. It is evident from the facts that both accused intended to cause the death of the deceased. So, the judge said, the accused persons hatched the plan which the two of them meticulously executed with full knowledge and participation as to the consequences thereto.

According to the evidence tendered, Christopher was the one who did the act of slaughtering the deceased. He is the person who did the actual cutting of the deceased’s neck with the knife, thereby falling under section 22(l)(a) of the Penal Code.

Felister, on her part, did not do the actual killing, she pressed the lower body of the deceased to the ground, an act that enabled Christopher to accomplish the plan.

“Knowing (Christopher) had a plan to kill the deceased, (Felister) did not do anything to prevent this from happening. Consequently, therefore, each of the accused persons is deemed to have taken part in committing the offence of murder,” she ruled.

Facts show that Christopher and Felister were lovers who had vowed to keep their love affair a secret at any cost, even if it meant taking one’s life. Before the day of the incident, the deceased had discovered the love affair that the accused duo had, and apparently, he revealed their secret affair to some persons.

The accused persons were not pleased with that fact, so they decided to exterminate him. The court heard that Christopher purchased a knife and tricked the unsuspecting deceased to go with him to a pre-arranged spot. Meanwhile, Felister, who was not far, was waiting for a sign; a phone call from Christopher.

When her phone rang, she quickly went to the prearranged spot. They tricked the deceased to lie down. As he did, Felister sat on him, holding him tight to the ground. Christopher cut the deceased’s throat while Felister pressed down his lower body.

They almost separated the head from the body. When the accused persons were sure that the deceased was no more, they walked away calmly, as if nothing happened. The duo continued with their daily routines until the day they were arrested.