Man in agony after shooting incident

A Lilongwe-based businessperson is in agony after a part of his intestines were removed following gun wounds he sustained when police allegedly shot him in the thigh and lower abdomen in December last year, the Nation on Sunday has learnt.

Kidney Chilingulo, 36, claimed in an interview that police invaded his house around 11pm on December 5 last year, accusing him of being one of armed robbers who were terrorising the Capital City, an allegation he denies.

He said the police are yet to charge him with any offence, but the law-enforcers insist Chilungulo is a suspected armed robber.

Lilongwe Police spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula claimed Chilungulo escaped from the police twice before they raided his house.

He did not explain why the alleged suspect has not been charged.

But Chilingulo said he was surprised that the police have labelled him a criminal when he has no criminal record.

Chilingulo, who is married with a child, claimed he was baby-sitting his one-year-old child on the fateful night when he heard a loud sound at his gate.

His house, he said, was immediately surrounded by seven police officers in civilian clothes who descended on him and started beating him up when he opened the door.

He said the police claimed he was involved in an armed robbery where a woman was killed, an accusation Chilingulo denies.

Chilingulo further claimed that the police proceeded to search his house but did not find a gun they said they were looking for.

“I knelt down and pleaded with them, but they kept on shouting insults at me and telling my neighbours to start stoning my house because I was a thief,” Chilingulo alleged.

As he was on the ground complying with the officers’ commands, he claimed police officers shot him twice, on the thigh and on the lower abdomen.

Chilungulo said he was later handcuffed and taken to Area 3 Police Station where he was dumped in a police cell until fellow inmates pleaded with the authorities to take him to hospital.

Chilingulo said he was later taken to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) where he was operated on the same night.

A medical report indicates that Chilingulo was operated on at KCH on December 5 2014.

“The bearer of this letter [Kidney Chilingulo] was operated on at Kamuzu Central Hospital on December 5 2014 following gunshot injuries, the hospital conducted a resection and anastomosis [to remove an unrepairable contaminated abnormal segment of the intestines] of small bowel segment with perforations approximately 165 centimetres, repair of mesenteric tear, among others.

“He was discharged on December 12 2014 when this condition stabilised and is currently on physiotherapy and on a follow-up abdominal X-rays showed a bullet shadow to the right side of the abdomen subcutaneously,” reads in part the medical report signed by surgical registrar at KCH Charles Phiri.

When Nation on Sunday visited Chilingulo at his residence last week, he was still in pain as one bullet remains in his body.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Timothy Mtambo has described the incident as a sad development, saying that Chilungulo’s right to life, which is non-derogable, has been threatened.

“It is sad that this person is suffering for being shot by the police. If at all this allegation is true, then we have all the reasons to be worried as a country,” he said.

Mtambo said the country’s laws are clear that everyone is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law.

“We want an explanation from the police on this; otherwise, we do not want people to start living in fear,” he said.