A RETIRED Army Colonel has shot himself dead after shooting and wounding his former wife after apparently failing to share their property following a divorce and court order. Pascal Mupinde, 57, of Lusaka’s Meanwood Ibex area, on Friday night shot his former wife, Cedah Mukoma, 42, a pharmacist, before turning the gun on himself. Mukoma survived the bullet wound and is receiving treatment in a hospital in Lusaka. Mupinde’s neighbours said yesterday that they heard two gun shots around 19:00 hours on Friday and when they rushed to the scene, they found Mupinde in a pool of blood.

hat the deceased had two homes, here in Lusaka and on the Copperbelt. This one here is a second wife. We are told there was no peace in their home,” the source said. Acting police spokesperson Danny Mwale said Mupinde first shot Mukoma and wounded her on her left cheek. The shooting followed a divorce. Mr Mwale said Ms Mukoma sued her husband for divorce and the court granted it and also ordered that property be shared equally.

This did not go well with Mupinde. Since the court order, the deceased had been threatening that should any property be shared, he would kill himself. On the material day, after returning from a hospital visit around 18:30 hours, Mukoma found Mupinde in the carport and she went into her room, since the two lived separately.

After sometime, Mupinde came in and told her to consider not sharing the property equally or else he would kill himself. As the discussion was going on, Mupinde pulled a gun and shot Ms Mukoma on the left cheek before turning the gun on himself. Mupinde’s body is in Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital awaiting post-mortem. Meanwhile, police on the Copperbelt have arrested a man who allegedly poured hot water on his daughter for accepting a K1 coin from an unknown man, PRISCILLA CHIPULU reports from Ndola.

The man, Bin Malekana, 29, has been charged with assault on a child. Copperbelt Deputy Commissioner of Police Wamunyima Wamunyima said the girl’s mother, Abigail Phiri, a house wife, of Misaka area in Luanshya, reported the matter. Mr Wamunyima said the incident happened on November 25 and was only reported on November 28 after the child, aged 6, was hospitalised.

He said on the material day, the victim was given a K2 by her mother to buy charcoal. On her way back, the girl was given a K1 coin by a certain man she did not know. When she got home, her father questioned why she got the coin from a stranger and he allegedly poured hot water on her stomach. “The girl is admitted at Roan General Hospital and her condition is stable,” Mr Wamunyima said.