POLICE officer Clement Banda of Njuli, who is accused of battering his wife Pellagia, quietly ap¬peared at Limbe's Dalton Road Magistrates Court on Thursday to answer charges of assault and has since been remanded at Chichiri Prison.

Banda's next court appearance will depend on the condition of the wife, Chiradzulu Police spokesperson Constable Ralphael Makondetsa has said.

The police publicist said the court did not set a specific date to continue hearing the case because the wife has developed some medical complications, and prosecutors wanted to observe her condition first.

"But, as we wait to observe the woman's condition, the suspect will remain on remand at Chichiri Prison," Makondetsa said.

Meanwhile, Pellagia was referred to QECH on Tuesday for further treatment and, after observing her condition, Qech medical workers recommended that she be taking medication at home to prevent her eight-month-old baby from catching infections at the hospital, the victim's grandmother and guardian Ethel Matengo has said.

They were given one week's medication, medical records show, and returned to Chiradzulu the same day.

"Pellagia is still unable to see, and we were told at QECH that her eyes are still swollen. She cannot go to the toilet unaccompanied. She cannot do the things she used to do, and we are always holding her hand when she wants to answer to the call of nature," Matengo said Saturday.

She has since gone back to Mbalame Village, in the area of Traditional Authority Mpama, in Chiradzulu. Her next appointment with QECH doctors has been set for Monday, February 4, 2013, according to medical records. Pellagia's ordeal came into the limelight on Sunday, January 20, after The Sunday Times revealed that she had been lying in agony at Chiradzulu District Hospital since January 13, allegedly after being assaulted by Banda over family issues.