A NDOLA man has been sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour for assaulting his wife after he discovered hidden Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in the house.

This is a matter in which George Mweetwa, 38, a general worker of Nkwazi Township was facing one count of unlawful wounding.

It was alleged that on October 4, 2021, around 22:00 hours, Mweetwa wounded his wife Racho Kunda, 33, after he found her with ARVs in their house.

When the matter came up before magistrate Peggy Banda, the court heard that on the fateful night, Mweetwa allegedly wounded his wife on her chin using a chain.

Kunda then reported the matter to Nkwazi police post but Mweetwa failed to justify his actions.

However, Mweetwa told the court that he used a knife to inflict a wound on his wife and not a chain.

“The reason why I did this was because she did not tell me about the drugs but instead she kept them secretly despite staying only the two of us in the house,” he said.

Mweetwa, who did not show remorse for his actions, said it was unfortunate that his wife said the drugs were not hers but for her relatives.

“She said that the drugs were not for her to drink but that it was her relatives who came to drink the drugs from my house,” he said.

In mitigation, Mweetwa said he was taking care of his parents and his two children who were in school and that they would suffer if he was jailed.

But passing sentence, Magistrate Banda said the offence was a serious one.

She said the accused needed to be punished because the use of dangerous items like knives could result in death.

“I will sentence you to two years imprisonment with hard labour from the date of arrest. You have the right to appeal to the High Court within 14 days,” ruled Magistrate Banda.