Brilio.net/en - It was a sight that most would give their souls for, but not for Balenga Kalala. He looked on at the funeral he had put on for his wife, claiming she had died in an accident. Noela Rukundo waited in her car until the perfect moment, and then stepped out. It was his face that looked like that of a ghost when he said: Is it my eyes? Do I see a ghost?
A simple Surprise! Im still alive! from Rukundo ended the short dialogue as the man was arrested for attempted murder after he hired three hit men to kidnap and murder his wife.
Im sorry! he wailed, as he touched her shoulder to make sure his conscious wasnt playing tricks on his eyes. It was too late for apologies as he was arrested and eventually would plead guilty for incitement to murder and is now serving a nine-year sentence.
Image: Noela Rukundo andBalenga Kalala/ABC News
Her return from the dead wouldnt have been possible without the help of her pastor, and more unlikely, the three hit men. Her story begins alas also after a funeral, her mothers, in her native Burundi. After she was kidnapped in the capital city Bujumbura, the Australia native decided to get some fresh air as recommended by her husband, where she was promptly faced with a life and death situation. Dont scream, she remembers one of the kidnappers saying with a gun pointed at her head. If you start screaming, I will shoot you. Theyre going to catch me, but you? You will already be dead.
Image: ABC News
Lucky for her the men had a change of heart and confessed that they dont murder women and the men knew her brother. Rukundo later found out that her husband had hired the hit men because he was under the belief that she was on the verge of leaving him for another man, a claim the Rukundo strongly denies.
She still has nightmare of hearing her husband say Kill her over and over again to the killers on speakerphone. As a Congolese refugee, she knew his past but didnt believe his violent tendencies would turn themselves toward her. I knew he was a violent man, Rukundo told the BBC. But I didnt believe he can kill me.
The hit men released her after two days and even gave her evidence of Kalalas transctions, including a receipt for $7,000 as well as phone recordings that would later get him indicted.
Its as happy of an ending as one can get, but the fierce and independent Rukundo is ready to begin her new life, by the side of her eight children.
(Reported by Ivana Lucic)