A 38 year-old man has committed suicide in Ntcheu after his wife blatantly told the marriage advocates in the presence of the Village Head, that their marriage is over.

According to the relatives, Titani Bauleni, a subsistence farmer, and his wife Khalidwe (31) have had a stormy marriage despite having three children together. Recently, they separated for a year. However, the husband tried hard to reunite but his wife refused.

In the process, a meeting was arranged on Sunday, May 7, 2017, by advocates from both sides to try resolve the misunderstanding. That effort mirrored a glimmer of hope to Bauleni who envisaged that the presence of the Village Chief at the meeting would soften up his wife’s stance.

However he was shocked that the wife stuck to her guns that she cannot return to him.

The next day on May 8, 2017, at around 2000 hours, he invaded the wife’s home, armed with a panga knife. He stabbed her severely until she became unconscious. The victim was taken by other well wishers to Ntcheu District Hospital where she is currently admitted.

Immediately, Bauleni, who thought his wife had died, went to his sister’s house to say goodbye. He tasked the sister to carry out the maize harvest on his behalf and take care for his three children because they would not see him again. He then proceeded to an unknown destination.

Later, his body was found hanging on a tree inside a nearby forest on Tuesday morning.

Postmortem conducted by medical personnel at Ntcheu District Hospital revealed that death was due to suffocation.

He hailed from Gumbu village, in Traditional Authority Kwataine in Ntcheu district.

Meanwhile the Police are urging members of the general public who are faced with similar challenges, to seek redress from counselling platforms like the Victim Support Unit (VSU), available at all Police Stations.