A 40-year-old man who is at large in Dedza has hacked his wife to death due to jealousy.

Dedza police station deputy publicist Sergeant Cassim Manda said the incident occurred between the night of Sunday and Monday at Lumwira Village, Traditional Authority Kasumbu in the district.

Manda said Simthawika Sibombe allegedly murdered his 35-year-old wife, Sipeniya David using a panga knife after ambushing her following misunderstandings between the couple.

“On Sunday around 4 pm the wife set off to see her sister who was admitted to Kanyama Mission Health Centre which is within the area,” he said.

“Her jealous husband who was away at that time ambushed her near the graveyard. The hubby emerged from the bush and hacked David with a panga knife  to death and fled from the scene.”

Both David’s hands were badly cut and she had also suffered injuries to her forehead.

Her body was taken to Dedza District Hospital and the postmortem results revealed that her death was due to head injuries.

Police officers have since inspected the crime scene and registered a case of murder against Sibombe.

Meanwhile, Dedza Police Station has launched a manhunt to arrest the suspect.

The duo are survived by two children.

In 2019 the station registered 31 murder cases while in 2018 the station registered 20 cases.