Noela Rukundo gave her husband the shock of his life after she crashed her own funeral. What makes this matter even more #BRUHNews worthy is that the husband paid to have his wife killed.
In an interview with BBC News, Rukundo retold the story which unfolded a year ago with a botched hit on her life. While in the African nation of Burundi, Rukundo’s husband, Balenga Kalala, hired gunmen to kill his wife who was on a visit from Austrailia. Amazingly, the gunmen took Rukundo, a mother of eight, to an undisclosed location where she had to hear her husband tell the men to perform the hit over the phone after which she passed out.
Rukundo, who had five children from a previous marriage and three with Kalala, a native Democratic Republic of Congo. He fled the war-torn country to Australia as a refugee in 2004 and made a new life. Rukundo said that while she knew he was violent, she didn’t expect this. What she also didn’t expect was for her life to be spared.
From the BBC:
As the gang’s leader ended the call to Kalala, Noela was coming round.
“I said to myself, I was already dead. Nothing I can do can save me.
“But he looks at me and then he says, ‘We’re not going to kill you. We don’t kill women and children.’
“He told me I’d been stupid because my husband paid them the deposit in November. And when I went to Africa it was January. He asked me, ‘How stupid can you be, from November, you can’t see that something is wrong?'”
He might have been a hit-man with principles, but the gang’s leader still took the opportunity to extort more money from Kalala. He called him back and informed him that the fee for the murder had increased. He wanted a further 3,400 Australian dollars (£1,700) to finish the job.
Back at the hotel, Noela’s brother was getting worried about her disappearance. He called Kalala in Australia to ask for $545 to pay the police to open an investigation – Kalala feigned concern and duly wired the money.
After two days in captivity, Noela was freed.
The gang gave Rukundo 80 hours to leave Burundi and warned that other hitmen wouldn’t be as open-minded as they were. And just before they freed her for good, they gave Rukundo a memory card of recorded phone conversations with Kalala and the money transfer receipts.
Rukundo returned to Melbourne in February 2015 and with the help of her pastor planned her big reveal. By then Kalala had been milking the tragedy for all its worth, even taken in donations from mourners in their community. While in front of a house after services, Rukundo walked up to Kalala and he was frozen. So frightened was Kalala that he touched his wife on the shoulder and started screaming that he was sorry.
Police were called to the scene and Kalala was taken in, who then later confessed to the crime and the reasons behind it. Kalala was jealous and thought his wife would leave him for another man.
Kalala initially denied involvement then tried to place blame on the devil. He was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty in December. Rukundo, who now has to raise eight children alone, says she has forgiven Kalala.
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Photo: family handout/supplied/ABC News
