Rex v Nakandu (Criminal Appeal No. 149 of 1948)
Observed later treatment
No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.
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Holding
The Court held that whilst refusal of sexual intercourse per se can never afford a basis for legal provocation, such refusal combined with other circumstances might constitute an element resulting in provocation. However, where the only other element was the wife's failure to candidly admit suspected infidelity, this did not amount to grave and sudden provocation. The appeal was dismissed and the murder conviction upheld.
Outcome
Murder conviction upheld
Facts
The appellant was convicted of murdering his wife in the High Court of Tanganyika. He had suspected his wife of infidelity for some time. On the night of the killing, he confronted her about the suspected affair with a man named Ayibu. She replied evasively and refused him sexual intercourse. The appellant stated that he killed his wife because she refused sexual intercourse, which made him bitter, and because she had been having an affair with Ayibu who had paid her money on two occasions. The circumstances of the killing were not in dispute.
Issues
- Whether the refusal of sexual intercourse by the appellant's wife, coupled with her failure to admit suspected infidelity, constituted legal provocation sufficient to reduce murder to a lesser charge.
Orders
- Appeal dismissed.
Rules and key headnotes
Cases cited (1)
- Rex v Paulo Lwevola (10 E.A.C.A. 63)
Full judgment
The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.