A LANDLORD of Chipata has been dragged to court for attempting to commit adultery with his tenant’s wife who defaulted paying rentals. Mathews Zulu, 43, of Magazine Township in Chipata, was dragged to court by Mathews Tembo, 32, of the same area. Tembo sued his landlord after he found him with his wife in the bedroom at 22:00 hours inthe dark He narrated before Chipata Local Court senior magistrate Leonard Nkhata that the incident happened on March 24, 2020.

Tembo told the court that his landlord had been proposing love to his wife for some time but without success. He said the matter was reported to the section chairperson but no action was taken because of lack of evidence. The court heard that Tembo and his wife Monica planned to trap their landlord so that they could expose him. Tembo told the court that on the fateful night, he climbed a nearby tree and hid himself there so that his landlord could think that he was not home.

“Shortly after I climbed the tree I saw Zulu entering my house and he went straight to the bedroom and demanded to have sex with my wife on our matrimonial bed,” he narrated. Tembo said it was at that point that he decided to confront his landlord. Tembo sent the court into laughter when he said he beat up Zulu before informing people, including the section chairman, about what had transpired. He told the court that he made his landlord sign a paper so that it could be used as part of his evidence in court before freeing him.

In defence, Zulu told the court that he was implicated when he went to Tembo’s house to ask for rentals. Zulu said Tembo had defaulted on his rentals and he decided to follow him to his house. He did not call any witness in his defence. In passing judgment, the court reprimanded Zulu for wanting to take advantage of the vulnerability of Tembo so that he could have an affair with his wife. Magistrate Nkhata said it was fortunate that Zulu was not caught having sex with Tembo’s wife, otherwise he would have faced the long arm of the law. The court fined Zulu K3,000 to be paid in monthly instalments of K200.