By Richmond B. Tholley
A fugitive housewife suspected of having murdered her husband in a village in the northern District of Tonkolili has been arrested and taken to the Mile 91 Police Station.
In the morning hours of January 18th, 2025, around 3 am, the now suspect, Marie Bangura, allegedly left her husband, Sullay Koroma, with bruises on his head and forehead leading to his death after the couple fights in Mathinka Bana, Kholifa Mabang Chiefdom.
The incident reportedly happened when almost everyone in the village was sleeping.
Marie Bangura, the wife, quietly sneaked out of the village after committing the alleged offense, leaving the entire community in panic.
Mathinka Bana village was awakened by the loud noise of the seven-year-old grandchild of the couple. The boy, a class three (3) pupil, alerted the entire village about the incident.
Immediately after the incident, authorities in Mathinka Bana said they dispatched a search party, and the team was inside the bushes in search of the suspect for days.
For a long time now, reports say the late husband and his wife were having marital issues and persistently quarreling over the wife’s refusal to have sex with the deceased.
Though the circumstances that led to the alleged killing of Koroma remain unclear, the majority of residents in Mathinka Bana believe the death of Koroma cannot be unconnected to their usual midnight fights for sex.
Several phone calls were made alerting neighboring villages about the incident and for the possible arrest of the wife after efforts by the community to arrest and hand over Bangura to the police have gone fruitless.
Even after the Mathinka community had reported the matter to Mile 91, it did not stop the police from arresting some community members, including the village headman, for questioning.
To secure the release of its members from detention, the Mathinka Bana community continued the search for suspect Marie Bangura until she was arrested in Gaindema, a village near Mile 91. Bangura came out from the bush to beg for food in Gaindema when she was spotted by some residents in the said village who suspected her to be the woman reported to have killed her husband.
Bangura was arrested and taken to the police station in Mile 91 after she could not answer most of the questions and because it’s strange for someone to just come from the bush to beg for food.
A police source has confirmed the arrest and detention of Bangura at the Mile 91 Police Station.
