– Noela Rukundo had been with her husband, Balenga Kalala, for 11 years when, last year, she flew from their home in Melbourne, Australia, to her native Burundi for her stepmother's funeral. While there, Kalala ordered gang members to have her killed. They abducted her and told her what they had been hired to do; Rukundo even heard her husband's voice on speakerphone telling them to kill her, the Australian Broadcasting Company reports. The gang members decided not to murder her because they knew her brother and they didn't believe in killing women, but they kept Kalala's money and told him the job was done. She was able to get back home, where, on Feb. 22, 2015, she walked up to Kalala after her own funeral; he'd told everyone she died while in Burundi. "Is it a ghost?" the scared man, who has since been sentenced to nine years for incitement to murder, per the ABC, asked. Rukundo tells the BBC her husband touched her shoulder to make sure she was real, then began screaming. He apologized, but she called police—and, though Kalala first denied he'd had anything to do with Rukundo's ordeal, she ultimately got him to confess while police secretly recorded one of their phone calls, the Age reports. His explanation to her? He thought she was going to leave him for someone else. "Sometimes Devil can come into someone, to do something, but after they do it they start thinking, ‘Why I did that thing?’ later," he reportedly said. The couple has three children together, and Rukundo also has five from a previous relationship. Since her ordeal, she says, some members of Melbourne's Congolese community have threatened her for reporting Kalala, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Expand this summary.
Man who had de facto kidnapped in Africa murder plot jailed in Melbourne 
  
 Updated 
  
 A Melbourne man has been sentenced to nine years' jail for having his de facto wife kidnapped at gunpoint in Africa and trying to have her murdered because he suspected she was cheating on him. 
  
 Balenga Kalala, who arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, paid almost $7,000 to a group of kidnappers to kill the mother of his three children, Noela Rukundo, when she was attending her stepmother's funeral in Burundi in early 2015. 
  
 The group snatched Ms Rukundo at gunpoint outside her hotel in Bujumbura in February and drove her to a secret location. 
  
 They told her her partner had paid for her to be murdered, but because they did not want to kill a woman, and they knew Ms Rukundo's brother, they would not carry out the killing. 
  
 They gave Ms Rukundo recorded telephone conversations between them and Kalala planning the hit, as well as receipts from Western Union showing proof of Kalala's payment. 
  
 While Ms Rukundo was in Burundi, Kalala, of Kings Park, was at home looking after the couple's three children and his partner's five children from a previous relationship. 
  
 Believing the murder plot had been executed, he told friends that his wife had been killed in a tragic accident while she was in Africa. 
  
 The African community gathered round the family, providing spiritual and financial support. 
  
 But Ms Rukundo was very much alive. 
  
 She arrived back in Melbourne on February 22 and confronted Kalala at their Kings Park home and called the police. 
  
 In September, Kalala pleaded guilty to one count of incitement to murder. 
  
 Kalala 'motivated by unfounded jealousy' 
  
 In sentencing, Chief Justice Marilyn Warren said the crime involved a great breach of trust. 
  
 "Had Ms Rukundo's kidnappers completed the job, eight children would have lost their mother," she said. 
  
 "It was premeditated and motivated by unfounded jealousy, anger and a desire to punish Ms Rukundo." 
  
 She said people should expect protection from the partners, not violence. 
  
 Chief Justice Warren said Kalala had been a hard worker and of good standing in the Australian community prior to this charge. 
  
 She also took into account his troubled childhood in war-torn Africa, and the fact his wife and child had been brutally murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was aged 24. 
  
 Outside court, Ms Rukundo's son Fostin said his mother still lived in fear. 
  
 Fostin said he was upset by the kidnapping. 
  
 "She works for us, she feeds us, she clothed us and she was doing the same thing for [Kalala]... 
  
 "I looked at him (in court) but I couldn't see a man. Because I believe a man would not do something like that." 
  
 Kalala will be eligible for parole after serving six years' jail. 
  
 Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, prisons-and-punishment, kings-park-3021, burundi 
  
 First posted ||||| 'Heartbroken' wife of husband who paid hit men to kidnap, murder her in Africa recalls hearing him order hit in phone call 
  
 Updated 
  
 A Melbourne woman says she has forgiven her husband after he had her kidnapped at gunpoint in Africa and tried to have her killed, but has come under attack from her community for going to police. 
  
 Balenga Kalala, 39, was sentenced to nine years jail for ordering the hit on his wife Noela Rukundo, when she was visiting Burundi for her step-mother's funeral in February. 
  
 The court heard Balenga wanted his wife dead because he suspected she was cheating on him. 
  
 Ms Rukundo, who arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2004, told the ABC she was heartbroken her husband had turned on her. 
  
 "I can't believe this is happening to me because this is the man I lived with for ten years, and I do everything for him to make this marriage work," Ms Rukundo said. 
  
 "I'm feeling stressed, and depressed. I'm feeling very bad." 
  
 The court heard Congolese-born Kalala paid almost $7,000 to a group of kidnappers to kill Ms Rukundo. 
  
 The group snatched Ms Rukundo at gunpoint outside her hotel in Bujumbura in February. 
  
 "A man, when he come close to me [I see] he have a gun," she said, recounting the ordeal. 
  
 "He pointed it at me and then he said 'see that car there? Go slowly by yourself and enter the car'." 
  
 She was blindfolded and driven to a secret location. 
  
 "I hear the men and they said 'you woman, what did you do for this man to pay us to kill you?' "I said, 'What are you talking about?' 
  
 "The boss says 'Balenga sent us to kill you'. I say 'You lie. My husband can't send anyone to kill me.' They laughed and said 'You're a fool, you're stupid'." 
  
 To prove that her husband was indeed the person behind the plot, the kidnappers rang him on speaker phone. 
  
 Ms Rukundo said she heard her husband order for her to be killed. 
  
 "I fainted because I heard his voice," she said through tears. 
  
 Kidnappers refused to kill women, children 
  
 The kidnappers told Ms Rukundo they would not kill her because they did not want to kill women or children. 
  
 But they would keep her husband's money, and tell him that she was dead. 
  
 She was held for two days and then released. 
  
 She flew back to Melbourne a few days later where she confronted her husband, who had already been telling members of the African community his wife had been killed in a tragic accident. 
  
 "He came to me, he touched me. Are you still alive? I just look at him and said 'Surprise! I'm still alive'." 
  
 He apologised to her and begged for forgiveness but she rang police. 
  
 Local community 'angry' wife went to police 
  
 Ms Rukundo said many people from within the Congolese community were angry with her for informing police about Kalala's offending. 
  
 She said she had received threatening messages and her home has been targeted. 
  
 "I come home and the back door broken, the front doors broken," she said. 
  
 "I don't know exactly who is behind [it] and what it is they want from me." 
  
 She has asked the Department of Human Services to find her and her children new accommodation because she does not feel safe. 
  
 Remarkably, after all she has been through, Ms Rukundo said she did not judge her husband. 
  
 "He's a human being. From my heart, I forgive him," she said. 
  
 "Let God judge him." 
  
 Balenga Kalala will be eligible for parole after serving six years' jail. 
  
 Topics: courts-and-trials, melbourne-3000 
  
 First posted ||||| Image copyright ABC News 
  
 One year ago a group of gunmen in Burundi was hired to kill a woman visiting from Australia. But the hit did not go as planned, leaving her with a chance to turn the tables on the man who wanted her dead. 
  
 "I felt like somebody who had risen again," says Noela Rukundo. 
  
 She was supposed to be dead. The hired killers had been paid. They had even explained how they would dispose of the body. 
  
 But now, waiting outside her house for the last of the mourners to leave, she was ready to face down the man who had put out a contract for her murder. 
  
 "When I get out of the car, he saw me straight away. He put his hands on his head and said, 'Is it my eyes? Is it a ghost?'" 
  
 "Surprise! I'm still alive!" she replied. 
  
 Noela's ordeal began five days earlier, and 7,500 miles away in her native Burundi. She had returned to Africa from her home in Melbourne, Australia, to attend her stepmother's funeral. 
  
 Image copyright iStock 
  
 "I had lost the last person who I call 'mother'," she says. "It was very painful. I was so stressed." 
  
 By early evening Noela had retreated to her hotel room. As she lay dozing in the stifling city heat of Bujumbura, her phone rang. It was a call from Australia - from Balenga Kalala, her husband and father to her three youngest children. 
  
 "He says he'd been trying to get me for the whole day," Noela says. "I said I was going to bed. He told me, 'To bed? Why are you sleeping so early?' 
  
 "I say, 'I'm not feeling happy'. And he asks me, 'How's the weather? Is it very, very hot?' He told me to go outside for fresh air." 
  
 Noela took his advice. 
  
 "I didn't think anything. I just thought that he cared about me, that he was worried about me." 
  
 But moments after stepping outside the hotel compound, Noela found herself in danger. 
  
 "I opened the gate and I saw a man coming towards me. Then he pointed the gun on me. 
  
 "He just told me, 'Don't scream. If you start screaming, I will shoot you. They're going to catch me, but you? You will already be dead.' 
  
 "So, I did exactly what he told me." 
  
 The gunman motioned Noela towards a waiting car. 
  
 "I was sitting between two men. One had a small gun, one had a long gun. And the men say to the driver, 'Pass us a scarf.' Then they cover my face. 
  
 "After that, I didn't say anything. They just said to the driver, 'Let's go.' 
  
 "I was taken somewhere, 30 to 40 minutes, then I hear the car stop." 
  
 Noela was pushed inside a building and tied to a chair. 
  
 "One of the kidnappers told his friend, 'Go call the boss.' I can hear doors open but I didn't know if their boss was in a room or if he came from outside. 
  
 "They ask me, 'What did you do to this man? Why has this man asked us to kill you?' And then I tell them, 'Which man? Because I don't have any problem with anybody.' They say, 'Your husband!' I say, 'My husband can't kill me, you are lying!' And then they slap me. 
  
 "After that the boss says, 'You are very stupid, you are fool. Let me call who has paid us to kill you.'" 
  
 The gang's leader made the call. 
  
 "We already have her," he triumphantly told his paymaster. 
  
 The phone was put on loudspeaker for Noela to hear the reply. 
  
 Her husband's voice said: "Kill her." 
  
 Just hours earlier, the same voice had consoled her over the death of her stepmother and urged her to take fresh air outside the hotel. Now her husband Balenga Kalala had condemned her to death. 
  
 "I heard his voice. I heard him. I felt like my head was going to blow up. 
  
 "Then they described for him where they were going to chuck the body." 
  
 At that, Noela says she passed out. 
  
 Image copyright Alamy 
  
 Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Balenga Kalala had arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, after fleeing a rebel army that had rampaged through his village, killing his wife and young son. 
  
 Settling in Melbourne, he soon found steady employment, first in a seafood processing factory and then in a warehouse as a forklift operator. 
  
 "He could already speak English," recalls Noela, who also arrived in Australia in 2004. "My social worker was his social worker, and they used him to translate Swahili." 
  
 The two fell in love. They set up home in the Kings Park suburb of the city. Noela had five children from a previous relationship and went on to have three more with Kalala. 
  
 "I knew he was a violent man," admits Noela. "But I didn't believe he can kill me. I loved this man with all my heart! 
  
 "I give him, beautiful and handsome, two boys and one girl. So I don't know why he choose to kill me." 
  
 Find out more 
  
 Noela Rukundo spoke to Outlook on the BBC World Service 
  
 Get the Outlook podcast for more extraordinary personal stories 
  
 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. 
  
 "'We give you 80 hours to leave this country,'" Noela says the gang told her. "'Your husband is serious. Maybe we can spare your life, but other people, they're not going to do the same thing. If God helps you, you'll get to Australia.'" 
  
 Before leaving Noela by the side of a road, the gang handed her the evidence they hoped would incriminate Kalala - a memory card containing recorded phone conversations of him discussing the murder and receipts for the Western Union money transfers. 
  
 Image copyright Alamy 
  
 "We just want you to go back, to tell other stupid women like you what happened," the gang told Noela as they parted. "You must learn something: you people get a chance to go overseas for a better life. But the money you are earning, the money the government gives to you, you use it for killing each other!" 
  
 Noela immediately began planning her return to Australia. She called the pastor of her church in Melbourne, Dassano Harruno Nantogmah, and requested his help. 
  
 "'It was in the middle of the night. I says, 'It's me, I'm still alive, don't tell anybody.' He says, 'Noela, I don't believe it. Balenga can't kill someone!' And I said, 'Pastor, believe me!'" 
  
 His voice always comes to me in the night - 'Kill her, kill her' Noela Rukundo 
  
 Three days later, on the evening of 22 February 2015, Noela was back in Melbourne. 
  
 By now, Kalala had informed the community that his wife had died in a tragic accident. He had spent the day hosting a steady stream of well-wishers, many of whom donated money. 
  
 "It was around 7.30pm," Noela says. "He was in front of the house. People had been inside mourning with him and he was escorting a group of them into a car." 
  
 It was as they drove away that Noela sprang her surprise. 
  
 "I was stood just looking at him. He was scared, he didn't believe it. Then he starts walking towards me, slowly, like he was walking on broken glass. 
  
 "He kept talking to himself and when he reached me, he touched me on the shoulder. He jumped. 
  
 "He did it again. He jumped. Then he said, 'Noela, is it you?'… Then he start screaming, 'I'm sorry for everything.'" 
  
 Noela called the police who ordered Kalala off the premises and later obtained a court order against him. Days later, the police instructed Noela to call Kalala. Kalala made a full confession to his wife, captured on tape, begging for her forgiveness and revealing why he had ordered the murder. 
  
 "He say he wanted to kill me because he was jealous," says Noela. "He think that I wanted to leave him for another man." 
  
 She rejects the accusation. 
  
 In a police interview, Kalala denied any involvement in the plot. "The pretence," wrote the judge at his trial in December, "lasted for hours." But when confronted with the recording of his telephone conversation with Noela and the evidence she brought back from Burundi he started to cry. 
  
 Kalala was still unable to offer any explanation for his actions, suggesting only that "sometimes [the] devil can come into someone to do something but after they do it, they start thinking, 'Why I did that thing?'" 
  
 On 11 December last year, in court in Melbourne, after pleading guilty to incitement to murder, Kalala was sentenced to nine years in prison. 
  
 "His voice always comes in the night - 'Kill her, kill her,'" says Noela of the nightmares that now plague her. "Every night, I see what was happening in those two days with the kidnappers." 
  
 Ostracised by many in Melbourne's African community, some of whom blame her for Kalala's conviction, Noela sees a difficult future for her and her eight children. 
  
 "But I will stand up like a strong woman," she says. 
  
 "My situation, my past life? That is gone. I'm starting a new life now." 
  
 Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox. ||||| Balenga Kalala's plan was to have his de facto wife of 10 years kidnapped and murdered in Africa, where she was attending her stepmother's funeral, because he wrongly suspected she was cheating on him. 
  
 The Congolese forklift operator from Kings Park, who arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, paid almost $7000 to the kidnappers but they eventually freed his de facto and the mother of his three children, Noela Rukundo, because they did not kill women. 
  
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 Link Balenga Kalala paid $7000 for his partner to be kidnapped and murdered. 
  
 On her release, the kidnappers gave Ms Rukundo two receipts from Western Union for the $7000 "blood money". Kalala had used a redraw facility on the couple's home loan to get the money. 
  
 When Ms Rukundo returned home to Melbourne and confronted her husband in their front yard, he was shocked she was still alive. 
  
 He had been telling friends in his local African community in Melbourne's west how his wife had died in a tragic accident in Burundi, and they had rallied around him to offer significant financial support to help him and the children. 
  
 Ms Rukundo told him, "Surprise! I'm still alive. You are a wicked man. Why did you want me to be killed? What about your small children (aged five, 10 and 11)? Who was going to look after them?" 
  
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 Police were called but Kalala initially denied any wrongdoing. 
  
 Crown prosecutor Douglas Trapnell, QC, told the Supreme Court that police secretly recorded a phone conversation between Kalala and his de facto on February 28, 2015, in which he begged her to forgive him and confirmed he had arranged for her to be murdered. 
  
 He believed she had been having an affair and wanted to punish her for being unfaithful. 
  
 "Sometimes Devil can come into someone, to do something, but after they do it they start thinking, 'Why I did that thing?', later," he told her. 
  
 Outlining the details of the case after Kalala had pleaded guilty to one charge of incitement to murder, Mr Trapnell said Ms Rukundo had flown to Burundi on January 21, 2015, to attend her stepmother's funeral and visit relatives. 
  
 Ms Rukundo was staying at a hotel in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, during her trip and was in regular contact with Kalala. Kalala had stayed at home to look after the couple's three children, as well as Ms Rukundo's five children from previous relationships. 
  
 Kalala called Ms Rukundo at about 8pm local time on February 17 and after talking about the hot weather, he told her to go outside to get some fresh air. 
  
 Ms Rukundo walked outside and was suddenly approached by a man armed with a gun. 
  
 "This male threatened her with the firearm, told her to remain quiet and forced her into a vehicle," the prosecutor said. "Two other unknown males were in the vehicle. The offenders covered Ms Rukundo's face and drove away." 
  
 Ms Rukundo was driven to a secret location where a fourth man told her Kalala had paid for her to be killed, but the kidnappers did not wish to kill a woman. 
  
 One of the kidnappers called Kalala on February 18 and told him in Swahili how they had completed the "big job" for him. 
  
 The kidnapper told Kalala: "We've killed your wife and you are the one winning." 
  
 Kalala expressed his gratitude and said, "We are like family." 
  
 Ms Rukundo was released on February 19 and her kidnappers handed her a mobile phone memory card containing the recorded telephone conversations they had had with Kalala over her planned murder and the receipts from her partner's payment. 
  
 After her release, Ms Rukundo sought help from the Kenyan and Belgian embassies to return to Australia and arrived in Melbourne on February 22 before going straight from the airport to confront Kalala. 
  
 Chief Justice Marilyn Warren remanded Kalala for sentencing at a later date. |||||
– Noela Rukundo hade varit tillsammans med sin man, Balenga Kalala, i 11 år när hon förra året flög från deras hem i Melbourne i Australien till sitt hemland Burundi för sin styvmors begravning. Under tiden där beordrade Kalala gängmedlemmar att låta döda henne. De kidnappade henne och berättade för henne vad de hade anlitats för att göra; Rukundo hörde till och med makens röst på högtalartelefon som sa åt dem att döda henne, rapporterar Australian Broadcasting Company. Gängmedlemmarna bestämde sig för att inte mörda henne eftersom de kände hennes bror och de inte trodde på att döda kvinnor, men de behöll Kalalas pengar och berättade att jobbet var gjort. Hon kunde ta sig hem igen, där hon den 22 februari 2015 gick fram till Kalala efter sin egen begravning; han hade berättat för alla att hon dog medan hon var i Burundi. "Är det ett spöke?" Den rädde mannen, som sedan dess dömts till nio år för anstiftan till mord, frågade enligt ABC. Rukundo berättar för BBC att hennes man rörde hennes axel för att se till att hon var verklig, sedan började skrika. Han bad om ursäkt, men hon ringde polisen – och även om Kalala först förnekade att han hade något att göra med Rukundos pärs, fick hon honom till slut att erkänna medan polisen i hemlighet spelade in ett av deras telefonsamtal, åldersrapporterna. Hans förklaring till henne? Han trodde att hon skulle lämna honom för någon annan. "Ibland kan Djävulen komma in i någon, för att göra något, men efter att de gjort det börjar de tänka: 'Varför jag gjorde den saken?' senare," sade han enligt uppgift. Paret har tre barn tillsammans, och Rukundo har också fem från ett tidigare förhållande. Efter sin pärs, säger hon, har vissa medlemmar av Melbournes kongolesiska folkgrupp hotat henne för att ha rapporterat Kalala, som ursprungligen kommer från Demokratiska republiken Kongo. Utöka denna sammanfattning.
“Noela Rukundo had been with her husband, Balenga Kalala, for 11 years when she flew from their home in Melbourne, Australia, to her native Burundi, last year, for her stepmother’s funeral. While there, Kalala ordered gang members to have her killed. They kidnapped her and told her what they had been hired to do; Rukundo even heard her husband's voice on speakerphone telling them to kill her, reports the Australian Broadcasting Company. The gang members decided not to murder her because they knew her brother and they didn't believe in killing women, but they kept Kalala's money and told her the job was done. She was able to make her way home again, where on 22 February 2015 she walked up to Kalala after her own funeral; he had told everyone that she died while in Burundi. "Is it a ghost?" The frightened man, who has since been sentenced to nine years for inciting murder, asked according to ABC. Rukundo tells the BBC that her husband touched her shoulder to make sure she was real, then started screaming. He apologized, but she called the police – and although Kalala first denied having anything to do with Rukundo's ordeal, she finally made him confess while police secretly recorded one of their phone calls, the age reports. His explanation for her? He thought she'd leave him for someone else. "Sometimes the Devil can get into someone, to do something, but after they do, they begin to think, 'Why I did that thing?' later," he reportedly said. The couple have three children together, and Rukundo also has five from a previous relationship. Following her ordeal, she says, some members of Melbourne's Congolese community have threatened her for reporting Kalala, who originally comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Extend this summary.
Man som de facto hade kidnappat i Afrika mord komplott fängslad i Melbourne Uppdaterad En Melbourne man har dömts till nio års fängelse för att ha fått sin de facto fru kidnappad under pistolhot i Afrika och försöker få henne mördad eftersom han misstänkte att hon var otrogen mot honom. Balenga Kalala, som anlände till Australien 2004 som flykting, betalade nästan 7 000 dollar till en grupp kidnappare för att döda modern till sina tre barn, Noela Rukundo, när hon var på sin styvmors begravning i Burundi i början av 2015. Gruppen ryckte till sig Ms Rukundo under pistolhot utanför sitt hotell i Bujumbura i februari och körde henne till en hemlig plats. De berättade för henne att hennes partner hade betalat för att hon skulle bli mördad, men eftersom de inte ville döda en kvinna, och de kände Ms Rukundos bror, så skulle de inte utföra dödandet. De gav fru Rukundo inspelade telefonsamtal mellan dem och Kalala planerar träffen, samt kvitton från Western Union visar bevis på Kalalas betalning. Medan Ms Rukundo var i Burundi, Kalala, i Kings Park, var hemma och såg efter parets tre barn och hans partners fem barn från ett tidigare förhållande. Han trodde att mordkomplotten hade avrättats och berättade för vänner att hans fru hade dödats i en tragisk olycka medan hon var i Afrika. Det afrikanska samfundet samlades runt familjen och gav andligt och ekonomiskt stöd. Men ms Rukundo levde i högsta grad. Hon anlände tillbaka till Melbourne den 22 februari och konfronterade Kalala vid deras Kings Park hem och ringde polisen. I september erkände Kalala sig skyldig till ett åtal för anstiftan till mord. Kalala "motiverad av ogrundad svartsjuka" I domen, Chief Justice Marilyn Warren sade brottet innebar ett stort förtroendebrott. "Om ms Rukundos kidnappare hade avslutat jobbet skulle åtta barn ha förlorat sin mor", sa hon. "Det var överlagt och motiverat av ogrundad svartsjuka, ilska och en önskan att straffa fru Rukundo." Hon sa att folk borde förvänta sig skydd från partnerna, inte våld. Domare Warren sa att Kalala hade varit en hårt arbetande och av god status i det australiska samhället före denna anklagelse. Hon tog även hänsyn till hans oroliga barndom i krigshärjade Afrika, och det faktum att hans fru och barn hade blivit brutalt mördade i Demokratiska republiken Kongo när han var 24 år. Utanför hovet sa fru Rukundos son Fostin att hans mor fortfarande levde i rädsla. Fostin sa att han var upprörd över kidnappningen. "Hon arbetar för oss, hon matar oss, hon klädde på oss och hon gjorde samma sak för [Kalala]... "Jag såg på honom (i rätten) men jag kunde inte se en man. För jag tror att en man inte skulle göra något sådant." Kalala kan bli villkorligt frigiven efter sex års fängelse. Ämnen: lag-brott-och-rättvisa, brott, fängelser-och-straff, Kings-park-3021, burundi Först postade "'Heartbroken'" hustru till make som betalade torpeder för att kidnappa, mord henne i Afrika minns höra honom order slagen i telefonsamtal Uppdaterad En Melbourne kvinna säger att hon har förlåtit sin man efter att han lät henne kidnappas under pistolhot i Afrika och försökte få henne dödad, men har kommit under attack från hennes samhälle för att gå till polisen. Balenga Kalala, 39, dömdes till nio års fängelse för att ha beordrat träffen på sin fru Noela Rukundo, då hon var på besök i Burundi för sin styvmors begravning i februari. Rätten hörde att Balenga ville se sin fru död eftersom han misstänkte att hon var otrogen mot honom. Fru Rukundo, som anlände till Australien som flykting 2004, berättade för ABC att hon var förkrossad att hennes man hade vänt sig mot henne. "Jag kan inte fatta att detta händer mig eftersom detta är mannen jag levde med i tio år, och jag gör allt för att han ska få detta äktenskap att fungera," Ms Rukundo sade. "Jag känner mig stressad och deprimerad. Jag mår väldigt dåligt." Rätten hörde att den kongolesiskfödda Kalala betalade nästan 7 000 dollar till en grupp kidnappare för att döda Ms Rukundo. Gruppen ryckte till sig Rukundo under pistolhot utanför sitt hotell i Bujumbura i februari. "En man, när han kommer nära mig [jag ser] han har en pistol," sade hon, berättar om prövningen. "Han pekade på mig och sa: "Ser du bilen där?" Gå långsamt för dig själv och gå in i bilen'." Hon hade ögonbindel och drevs till en hemlig plats. "Jag hör männen och de sa 'du kvinna, vad gjorde du för denna man att betala oss för att döda dig?" "Jag sa: 'Vad pratar du om?' "Bossen säger att Balenga skickade oss för att döda dig." Jag säger: "Du ljuger. Min man kan inte skicka någon att döda mig.' De skrattade och sade 'Du är en dåre, du är dum'." För att bevisa att hennes man verkligen var personen bakom komplotten ringde kidnapparna till honom på högtalartelefon. Ms Rukundo sa att hon hörde sin man beordra att hon skulle dödas. »Jag svimmade, därför att jag hörde hans röst», sade hon genom tårar. Kidnappare vägrade att döda kvinnor, barn Kidnapparna sa till ms Rukundo att de inte skulle döda henne eftersom de inte ville döda kvinnor eller barn. Men de skulle behålla hennes mans pengar och säga att hon var död. Hon hölls fången i två dagar och släpptes sedan. Hon flög tillbaka till Melbourne några dagar senare där hon konfronterade sin man, som redan hade berättat för medlemmar av det afrikanska samfundet att hans fru hade omkommit i en tragisk olycka. "Han kom till mig, han rörde mig. Lever du fortfarande? Jag bara tittade på honom och sa "Överraskning! Jag lever fortfarande." Han bad henne om ursäkt och bad om förlåtelse men hon ringde polisen. Den "oroliga" hustrun gick till polisen, Rukundo sa att många människor inom det kongolesiska samhället var arga på henne för att hon informerade polisen om Kalalas kränkande. Hon sa att hon hade fått hotfulla meddelanden och att hennes hem har blivit måltavla. »Jag kommer hem och bakdörren går sönder, ytterdörrarna gå sönder», sade hon. "Jag vet inte exakt vem som ligger bakom [det] och vad det är de vill ha av mig." Hon har bett avdelningen för mänskliga tjänster att hitta ett nytt boende åt henne och hennes barn, eftersom hon inte känner sig trygg. Anmärkningsvärt nog sade Rukundo, efter allt hon gått igenom, att hon inte dömde sin man. "Han är en människa. Från mitt hjärta förlåter jag honom», sade hon. "Låt Gud döma honom." Balenga Kalala kan bli villkorligt frigiven efter sex års fängelse. Ämnen: Domstolar-och-rättegångar, melbourne-3000 Först publicerad »» Bild copyright ABC News För ett år sedan anställdes en grupp revolvermän i Burundi för att döda en kvinna som besöktes av Australien. Men träffen gick inte som planerat, vilket lämnade henne med en chans att vända borden på mannen som ville se henne död. "Jag kände mig som någon som hade rest sig igen", säger Noela Rukundo. Hon skulle vara död. De lejda mördarna hade fått betalt. De hade till och med förklarat hur de skulle göra sig av med kroppen. Men nu, när hon väntade utanför sitt hus på att de sista sörjande skulle ge sig av, var hon redo att möta den man som hade lagt ut ett kontrakt för hennes mord. "När jag steg ur bilen, såg han mig genast. Han lade händerna på huvudet och sade: "Är det mina ögon? Är det ett spöke?'" "Överraskning! Jag lever fortfarande!" svarade hon. Noelas pärs började fem dagar tidigare, och 7 500 mil bort i sitt hemland Burundi. Hon hade återvänt till Afrika från sitt hem i Melbourne i Australien för att närvara vid sin styvmors begravning. Image copyright iStock "Jag hade förlorat den sista personen som jag kallar 'mor'", säger hon. "Det var väldigt smärtsamt. Jag var så stressad." Tidigt på kvällen hade Noela dragit sig tillbaka till sitt hotellrum. När hon låg och slumrade i Bujumburas kvävande stadsvärme ringde hennes telefon. Det var ett samtal från Australien - från Balenga Kalala, hennes man och far till hennes tre yngsta barn. "Han säger att han har försökt få tag i mig hela dagen", säger Noela. "Jag sa att jag skulle gå och lägga mig. Han sa: "Gå och lägg dig? Varför sover du så tidigt?' "Jag säger: 'Jag känner mig inte glad'. Och han frågar mig: "Hur är vädret? Är det mycket, mycket varmt?" Han sa åt mig att gå ut för att få frisk luft." Noela följde hans råd. »Jag tänkte ingenting. Jag trodde bara, att han brydde sig om mig, att han var orolig för mig.» Men ögonblicken efter att Noela hade klivit utanför hotellet befann hon sig i fara. "Jag öppnade porten och såg en man komma mot mig. Sen riktade han pistolen mot mig. "Han sa bara: 'Skrik inte. Om du börjar skrika, skjuter jag dig. De kommer att fånga mig, men du? Du kommer redan att vara död." "Så jag gjorde precis som han sa." Vapenmannen rörelse Noela mot en väntande bil. "Jag satt mellan två män. En hade en liten pistol, en hade en lång pistol. Och männen säger till chauffören: 'Ge oss en halsduk.' Sen täcker de mitt ansikte. "Efter det sa jag ingenting. De sa bara till föraren: "Kom så går vi." "Jag blev förd någonstans, 30 till 40 minuter, sen hör jag bilen stanna." Noela knuffades in i en byggnad och knöts fast i en stol. "En av kidnapparna sa till sin vän: 'Ring chefen.' Jag kan höra dörrar öppnas men jag visste inte om deras chef var i ett rum eller om han kom utifrån. "De frågar mig: 'Vad har du gjort med den här mannen? Varför har denne man bett oss att döda er?' Och sen säger jag till dem: "Vilken man? För jag har inga problem med någon.' De säger: "Din man!" Jag säger: 'Min man kan inte döda mig, du ljuger!' Och sen slår de mig. "Efter det säger chefen, 'Du är mycket dum, du är dum. Låt mig ringa vem som har betalat oss för att döda dig.'" Gängets ledare ringde. »Vi ha redan henne», sade han triumferande till sin lönemästare. Telefonen sattes på högtalartelefon för att Noela skulle höra svaret. Hennes mans röst sa: "Döda henne." Bara några timmar tidigare hade samma röst tröstat henne över hennes styvmors död och uppmanat henne att ta frisk luft utanför hotellet. Nu hade hennes man Balenga Kalala dömt henne till döden. "Jag hörde hans röst. Jag hörde honom. Det kändes som om mitt huvud skulle sprängas. "Då beskrev de för honom var de skulle kasta kroppen." Noela säger att hon svimmade. Image copyright Alamy Född i Demokratiska republiken Kongo, Balenga Kalala hade kommit till Australien 2004 som flykting, efter att ha flytt från en rebellarmé som hade rasat genom hans by, och dödat hans fru och unge son. När han bosatte sig i Melbourne fick han snart fast anställning, först i en fisk- och skaldjursfabrik och sedan i ett lager som gaffeltrucksoperatör. "Han kunde redan tala engelska", minns Noela, som också kom till Australien 2004. "Min socialarbetare var hans socialarbetare, och de använde honom för att översätta swahili." De två blev förälskade. De satte upp hem i Kings Park förort till staden. Noela fick fem barn från ett tidigare förhållande och övergick till att ha ytterligare tre med Kalala. "Jag visste att han var en våldsam man", erkänner Noela. "Men jag trodde inte att han kunde döda mig. Jag älskade den här mannen av hela mitt hjärta! »Jag ger honom, vacker och stilig, två pojkar och en flicka. Så jag vet inte varför han väljer att döda mig." Ta reda på mer Noela Rukundo talade med Outlook på BBC World Service Få Outlook podcast för mer extraordinära personliga berättelser När gängets ledare avslutade samtalet till Kalala, Noela var på väg runt. »Jag sade för mig själv, jag var redan död. Jag kan inte rädda mig. "Men han tittar på mig och säger: "Vi ska inte döda dig." Vi dödar inte kvinnor och barn. "Han sa att jag hade varit dum eftersom min man betalade dem depositionen i november. Och när jag åkte till Afrika var det januari. Han frågade mig: 'Hur dum kan du vara, från november, kan du inte se att något är fel?'» Han må ha varit en lönnmördare med principer, men gängets ledare passade ändå på att pressa mer pengar från Kalala. Han ringde tillbaka och informerade honom om att avgiften för mordet hade ökat. Han ville att ytterligare 3.400 australiska dollar (1.700 pund) skulle avsluta jobbet. På hotellet började Noelas bror oroa sig för hennes försvinnande. Han ringde Kalala i Australien för att be om $545 för att betala polisen för att öppna en utredning - Kalala låtsades oro och vederbörligen överförde pengarna. Efter två dagar i fångenskap befriades Noela. "'Vi ger dig 80 timmar att lämna det här landet'", säger Noela gänget berättade. "'Din man menar allvar. Vi kanske kan skona ditt liv, men andra människor, de kommer inte att göra samma sak. Om Gud hjälper dig, kommer du till Australien." Innan de lämnade Noela vid sidan av en väg, gav gänget henne de bevis de hoppades skulle anklaga Kalala - ett minneskort innehållande inspelade telefonsamtal av honom diskutera mord och kvitton för Western Union pengaöverföringar. Image copyright Alamy "Vi vill bara att du ska gå tillbaka, för att berätta för andra dumma kvinnor som du vad som hände", berättade gänget för Noela när de skildes. "Ni måste lära er något: ni människor får en chans att resa utomlands för ett bättre liv. Men de pengar ni tjänar, de pengar regeringen ger er, ni använder dem för att döda varandra!" Noela började genast planera sin återkomst till Australien. Hon ringde pastorn i sin kyrka i Melbourne, Dassiano Harruno Nantogmah, och bad om hans hjälp. »'Det var mitt i natten. Jag säger: 'Det är jag, jag lever fortfarande, berätta inte för någon.' Han säger: 'Noela, jag tror det inte. Balenga kan inte döda någon!» Och jag sade: 'Pastor, tro mig!'» Hans röst kommer alltid till mig på natten - 'Döda henne, döda henne' Noela Rukundo Tre dagar senare, på kvällen den 22 februari 2015, var Noela tillbaka i Melbourne. Vid det här laget hade Kalala informerat samhället om att hans hustru hade dött i en tragisk olycka. Han hade tillbringat dagen med att vara värd för en stadig ström av välönskare, av vilka många donerade pengar. "Klockan var runt 19.30", säger Noela. "Han var framför huset. Folk hade varit inne och sörjt med honom och han eskorterade en grupp av dem in i en bil." Det var när de körde iväg som Noela fick sin överraskning. "Jag stod bara och tittade på honom. Han var rädd, han trodde inte på det. Sen började han gå mot mig, sakta, som om han gick på krossat glas. "Han pratade för sig själv och när han nådde mig, rörde han mig på axeln. Han hoppade. "Han gjorde det igen. Han hoppade. Då sade han: "Noela, är det du? Sen började han skrika: "Jag är ledsen för allt." Noela ringde polisen som beordrade Kalala att lämna lokalen och fick senare ett domstolsbeslut mot honom. Dagar senare beordrade polisen Noela att ringa Kalala. Kalala gjorde en fullständig bekännelse till sin fru, tillfångatagen på band, tiggde om hennes förlåtelse och avslöjade varför han hade beordrat mordet. "Han sa att han ville döda mig för att han var svartsjuk", säger Noela. "Han tror att jag ville lämna honom för en annan man." Hon avvisar anklagelsen. I en polisintervju förnekade Kalala all inblandning i komplotten. »Förespeglingen», skrev domaren vid sin rättegång i december, »varade i timmar.» Men när han konfronterades med inspelningen av hans telefonsamtal med Noela och de bevis hon tog med sig tillbaka från Burundi började han gråta. Kalala var fortfarande oförmögen att ge någon förklaring till sina handlingar, och föreslog bara att "ibland kan [djävulen] komma in i någon för att göra något men efter att de gjort det, börjar de tänka, 'Varför jag gjorde den saken?'" Den 11 december förra året dömdes Kalala till nio års fängelse i domstolen i Melbourne, efter att ha erkänt sig skyldig till anstiftan till mord. "Hans röst kommer alltid på natten - 'Döda henne, döda henne'", säger Noela om de mardrömmar som nu plågar henne. "Varje kväll ser jag vad som hände under de två dagarna med kidnapparna." Ostracerad av många i Melbournes afrikanska gemenskap, varav några skyller på henne för Kalalas övertygelse, ser Noela en svår framtid för henne och hennes åtta barn. »Men jag skall stå upp som en stark kvinna», säger hon. "Min situation, mitt förflutna liv? Den är borta. Jag börjar ett nytt liv nu." Prenumerera på BBC News Magazines nyhetsbrev för att få artiklar skickade till din inkorg. Balenga Kalalas plan var att låta kidnappa och mörda sin de facto-fru i Afrika, där hon närvarade vid sin styvmors begravning, eftersom han felaktigt misstänkte att hon var otrogen mot honom. Den kongolesiska truckoperatören från Kings Park, som 2004 anlände till Australien som flykting, betalade nästan 7000 dollar till kidnapparna men de befriade så småningom hans de facto och modern till hans tre barn, Noela Rukundo, eftersom de inte dödade kvinnor. DELA Dela på Facebook DELA Dela på Twitter TWEET Länk Balenga Kalala betalade $7000 för att hans partner skulle kidnappas och mördas. Vid hennes frigivning gav kidnapparna fru Rukundo två kvitton från Western Union för de 7000 dollarna "blodspengar". Kalala hade använt en omdragningsanläggning på parets hemlån för att få pengarna. När fru Rukundo återvände hem till Melbourne och konfronterade sin man på deras gård blev han chockad över att hon fortfarande levde. Han hade berättat för vänner i sitt lokala afrikanska samhälle i Melbournes västra del hur hans fru hade dött i en tragisk olycka i Burundi, och de hade samlat sig runt honom för att erbjuda betydande ekonomiskt stöd för att hjälpa honom och barnen. Fröken Rukundo sa: "Överraskning! Jag lever fortfarande. Du är en ond man. Varför ville du att jag skulle dödas? Hur är det med dina små barn (fem, 10 och 11 år)? Vem skulle ta hand om dem?» Annons Polisen kallades men Kalala förnekade till en början något fel. Kronåklagare Douglas Trapnell, QC, berättade för Högsta domstolen att polisen i hemlighet spelade in ett telefonsamtal mellan Kalala och hans de facto den 28 februari 2015, i vilket han bad henne förlåta honom och bekräftade att han hade ordnat så att hon skulle bli mördad. Han trodde att hon hade haft en affär och ville straffa henne för att hon var otrogen. "Ibland kan Djävulen komma in i någon, för att göra något, men efter att de gjort det börjar de tänka: 'Varför jag gjorde den där saken? ', senare', berättade han. Trapnell förklarade att hon hade flugit till Burundi den 21 januari 2015 för att närvara vid sin styvmors begravning och besöka släktingar. Rukundo bodde på ett hotell i Burundis huvudstad Bujumbura under sin resa och hade regelbunden kontakt med Kalala. Kalala hade stannat hemma för att ta hand om parets tre barn, samt fru Rukundos fem barn från tidigare förhållanden. Kalala ringde fru Rukundo vid 20-tiden lokal tid den 17 februari och efter att ha talat om det varma vädret sa han åt henne att gå ut för att få lite frisk luft. Fru Rukundo gick ut och blev plötsligt kontaktad av en man beväpnad med en pistol. »Den här hanen hotade henne med skjutvapen, sade åt henne att tiga och tvingade henne in i ett fordon», sade åklagaren. "Två andra okända män var i fordonet. Förövarna täckte över fru Rukundos ansikte och körde iväg." Fru Rukundo kördes till en hemlig plats där en fjärde man berättade att Kalala betalat för att hon skulle dödas, men kidnapparna ville inte döda en kvinna. En av kidnapparna ringde Kalala den 18 februari och berättade på swahili hur de hade avslutat det "stora jobbet" åt honom. Kidnapparen sa till Kalala: "Vi har dödat din fru och du är den som vinner." Kalala uttryckte sin tacksamhet och sade: "Vi är som en familj." Fru Rukundo släpptes den 19 februari och hennes kidnappare gav henne ett mobiltelefonminneskort innehållande de inspelade telefonsamtal de hade haft med Kalala över hennes planerade mord och kvittona från hennes partners betalning. Efter frigivningen sökte Rukundo hjälp från de kenyanska och belgiska ambassaderna för att återvända till Australien och anlände till Melbourne den 22 februari innan hon åkte direkt från flygplatsen för att konfrontera Kalala. Domare Marilyn Warren häktade Kalala för att ha dömts vid ett senare tillfälle. Â°°
Man who had de facto kidnapped in Africa murder plot imprisoned in Melbourne Updated A Melbourne man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for having her de facto wife kidnapped at gunpoint in Africa and trying to have her murdered because he suspected she was cheating on him. Balenga Kalala, who arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, paid nearly $7,000 to a group of kidnappers to kill the mother of her three children, Noela Rukundo, when she was at her stepmother's funeral in Burundi in early 2015. The group snatched Ms. Rukundo at gunpoint outside her hotel in Bujumbura in February and drove her to a secret location. They told her that her partner had paid for her to be murdered, but since they did not want to kill a woman, and they knew Ms. Rukundo's brother, they would not carry out the killing. They gave Mrs. Rukundo recorded phone calls between them and Kalala planning the hit, as well as receipts from Western Union showing evidence of Kalala's payment. While Ms. Rukundo was in Burundi, Kalala, in Kings Park, was at home looking after the couple's three children and his partners five children from a previous relationship. He believed the murder plot had been executed and told friends that his wife had been killed in a tragic accident while in Africa. The African community gathered around the family and provided spiritual and financial support. But Ms. Rukundo was very much alive. She arrived back in Melbourne on 22 February and confronted Kalala at their Kings Park home and called the police. In September, Kalala pleaded guilty to a charge of incitement to murder. Kalala "motivated by unfounded jealousy" In the verdict, Chief Justice Marilyn Warren said the crime involved a major breach of trust. "If Ms. Rukundo's kidnappers had finished the job, eight children would have lost their mother," she said. "It was premeditated and motivated by unfounded jealousy, anger and a desire to punish Mrs. Rukundo." She said people should expect protection from their partners, not violence. Judge Warren said Kalala had been a hardworking and of good status in Australian society before this charge. She also took into account his troubled childhood in war-torn Africa, and the fact that his wife and children had been brutally murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was 24. Outside the court, Mrs. Rukundo's son Fostin said his mother was still living in fear. Fostin said he was upset about the kidnapping. "She works for us, she feeds us, she dressed us and she did the same for [Kalala]... "I looked at him (in court) but I couldn't see a man. Because I think a man wouldn't do such a thing." Kalala may be paroled after six years in prison. Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, prisons-and-punishment, Kings-park-3021, burundi First, "'Heartbroken'" posted the wife of husband who paid torpedoes to kidnap, murder her in Africa remembers hearing him orders beaten in phone calls Updated A Melbourne woman says she has forgiven her husband after he allowed her to be kidnapped at gunpoint in Africa and tried to have her killed, but has come under attack from her community to go to the police. Balenga Kalala, 39, was sentenced to nine years in prison for ordering the hit on her wife Noela Rukundo, when she was visiting Burundi for her stepmother's funeral in February. The court heard that Balenga wanted his wife dead because he suspected she was cheating on him. Mrs. Rukundo, who arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2004, told ABC that she was devastated that her husband had turned on her. "I can't believe this is happening to me because this is the man I lived with for ten years, and I'm doing everything I can to make this marriage work," Ms. Rukundo said. "I feel stressed and depressed. I feel very bad." The court heard that the Congolese-born Kalala paid nearly $7,000 to a group of kidnappers to kill Ms. Rukundo. The group snatched Rukundo at gunpoint outside their hotel in Bujumbura in February. "A man, when he gets close to me [I see] he has a gun," she said, tells of the trial. "He pointed at me and said, "You see that car there?" Walk slowly by yourself and get in the car'." She was blindfolded and driven to a secret location. "I hear the men and they said 'you woman, what did you do for this man to pay us to kill you?" "I said, 'What are you talking about?' "Boss says Balenga sent us to kill you." I say, "You're lying. My husband cannot send anyone to kill me.' They laughed and said 'You're a fool, you're stupid'." To prove that her husband was indeed the person behind the plot, the kidnappers called him on speakerphone. Ms. Rukundo said she heard her husband order her to be killed. "I fainted, because I heard his voice," she said through tears. Kidnappers refused to kill women, children The kidnappers told Ms. Rukundo they wouldn't kill her because they didn't want to kill women or children. But they would keep her husband's money and say she was dead. She was held captive for two days and then released. She flew back to Melbourne a few days later where she confronted her husband, who had already told members of the African community that his wife had died in a tragic accident. "He came to me, he touched me. Are you still alive? I just looked at him and said "Surprise! I'm still alive." He apologized to her and apologized, but she called the police. The "worried" wife went to the police, Rukundo said many people in Congolese society were angry with her for informing police about Kalala's insulting. She said that she had received threatening messages and that her home has been targeted. "I come home and the back door breaks, the front doors break," she said. "I don't know exactly who is behind [it] and what it is they want from me." She has asked the Human Services Department to find a new accommodation for her and her children, as she does not feel safe. Remarkably, after all she has been through, Rukundo said that she did not judge her husband. "He's a human being. From my heart I forgive him," she said. "Let God judge him." Balenga Kalala may be paroled after six years in prison. Topics: Courts and Trials, melbourne-3000 First published  Image copyright ABC News A year ago, a group of gunmen were hired in Burundi to kill a woman visited by Australia. But the date did not go as planned, leaving her with a chance to turn the tables on the man who wanted her dead. "I felt like someone who had risen again," says Noela Rukundo. She'd be dead. The hired killers had been paid. They had even explained how to dispose of the body. But now, as she waited outside her house for the last mourners to leave, she was ready to face the man who had put out a contract for her murder. "When I got out of the car, he saw me right away. He put his hands on his head and said, "Are those my eyes? Is it a ghost?'" "Surprise! I'm still alive!" she replied. Noela's ordeal began five days earlier, and 7,500 miles away in his native Burundi. She had returned to Africa from her home in Melbourne, Australia, to attend her stepmother's funeral. Image copyright iStock "I had lost the last person I call 'mother'," she says. "It was very painful. I was so stressed." Early in the evening, Noela had retired to her hotel room. As she lay slumbering in Bujumbura's suffocating city heat, her phone rang. It was a call from Australia - from Balenga Kalala, her husband and father to her three youngest children. "He says he's been trying to get hold of me all day," Noela says. "I said I'd go to bed. He said, "Go to bed? Why are you sleeping so early?' "I say, 'I don't feel happy'. And he asks me, "How's the weather? Is it very, very hot?" He told me to go out to get fresh air." Noela followed his advice. "I didn't think anything. I just thought he cared about me, that he was worried about me." But the moments after Noela stepped outside the hotel, she was in danger. "I opened the gate and saw a man coming towards me. Then he pointed the gun at me. "He just said, 'Don't yell. If you start screaming, I'll shoot you. They're gonna catch me, but you? You'll already be dead." "So I did exactly what he said." The gunman moved Noela towards a waiting car. "I sat between two men. One had a little gun, one had a long gun. And the men say to the driver, 'Give us a scarf.' Then they cover my face. "After that, I didn't say anything. They just said to the driver, "Let's go." "I got taken somewhere, 30 to 40 minutes, then I hear the car stop." Noela was pushed into a building and tied to a chair. "One of the kidnappers told his friend, 'Call the boss.' I can hear doors open, but I didn't know if their boss was in a room or if he came from outside. "They ask me, 'What have you done to this man? Why has this man asked us to kill you?' And then I say to them, "What man? Because I have no problem with anyone.' They say, "Your husband!" I say, 'My husband can't kill me, you're lying!' And then they hit me. "After that, the boss says, 'You're very stupid, you're stupid. Let me call who paid us to kill you." The gang leader called. "We already have her," he said triumphantly to his payroll champion. The phone was put on speakerphone for Noela to hear the answer. Her husband's voice said, "Kill her." Just hours earlier, the same voice had comforted her over the death of her stepmother and urged her to take fresh air outside the hotel. Now her husband Balenga Kalala had sentenced her to death. "I heard his voice. I heard him. I felt like my head was gonna blow up. "Then they described to him where to throw the body." Noela says she passed out. Image copyright Alamy Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Balenga Kalala had come to Australia in 2004 as a refugee, having fled from a rebel army that had collapsed through his village, killing his wife and young son. When he settled in Melbourne, he soon found permanent employment, first in a seafood factory and then in a warehouse as a forklift operator. "He could already speak English," recalls Noela, who also came to Australia in 2004. "My social worker was his social worker, and they used him to translate Swahili." The two fell in love. They set up home in Kings Park suburb of the city. Noela had five children from an earlier relationship and went on to have three more with Kalala. "I knew he was a violent man," admits Noela. "But I didn't think he could kill me. I loved this man with all my heart! "I give him, beautiful and handsome, two boys and a girl. So I don't know why he chooses to kill me." Find out more Noela Rukundo spoke with Outlook on BBC World Service Get Outlook podcast for more extraordinary personal stories When the gang leaders ended the call to Kalala, Noela was on the way around. "I said to myself, I was already dead. I can't save myself. "But he looks at me and says, "We're not gonna kill you." We don't kill women and children. "He said I had 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, can't you see that something is wrong?'" He may have been an assassin with principles, but the leaders of the gang still took the opportunity to squeeze more money from Kalala. He called back and informed him that the charge for the murder had increased. He wanted another 3,400 Australian dollars (£1,700) to finish the job. At the hotel, Noela's brother began to worry about her disappearance. He called Kalala in Australia to ask for $545 to pay police to open an investigation - Kalala pretended to worry and duly transferred the money. After two days in captivity, Noela was freed. "'We're giving you 80 hours to leave this country'," Noela the gang told me. "'Your husband is serious. We may be able to spare your life, but other people, they won't do the same. If God helps you, you will come to Australia." Before leaving Noela alongside a road, the gang gave her the evidence they hoped would accuse Kalala - a memory card containing recorded phone calls by him discussing murders and receipts for Western Union money transfers. Image copyright Alamy "We just want you to go back, to tell other stupid women like you what happened," the gang told Noela when they divorced. "You have to learn something: you people get a chance to travel abroad for a better life. But the money you make, the money the government gives you, you use it to kill each other!" Noela immediately began planning his return to Australia. She called the pastor of her church in Melbourne, Dassiso Harruno Nantogmah, asking for his help. "'It was the middle of the night. I say, 'It's me, I'm still alive, don't tell anyone.' He says, 'Noela, I don't believe it. Balenga can't kill anyone!" And I said, 'Pastor, believe me!'" His voice always comes to me at night - 'Kill her, kill her' Noela Rukundo Three days later, on the evening of 22 February 2015, Noela was back in Melbourne. By now Kalala had informed society that his wife had died in a tragic accident. He had spent the day hosting a steady stream of well-wishers, many of whom donated money. "It was around 7:30," Noela says. "He was in front of the house. People had been in mourning with him and he escorted a group of them into a car." It was when they drove away that Noela got his surprise. "I just stood there and looked at him. He was scared, he didn't believe it. Then he started walking towards me, slowly, like he was walking on broken glass. "He spoke to himself and when he reached me, he touched me on the shoulder. He jumped. "He did it again. He jumped. Then he said, "Noela, is that you? And then he started screaming, "I'm sorry for everything." Noela called the police who ordered Kalala to leave the premises and later received a court order against him. Days later, police ordered Noela to call Kalala. Kalala made a complete confession to his wife, captured on tape, begging for her forgiveness and revealing why he had ordered the murder. "He said he wanted to kill me because he was jealous," Noela says. "He thinks I wanted to leave him for another man." She rejects the accusation. In a police interview, Kalala denied any involvement in the plot. "The pretence," wrote the judge at his trial in December, "lasted for hours." But when confronted with the recording of his phone calls with Noela and the evidence she brought back from Burundi, he began to cry. Kalala was still unable to give any explanation for his actions, and only suggested that "sometimes [the devil] can get into someone to do something but after they do it, they start thinking, 'Why I did that thing?'" On 11 December last year, Kalala was sentenced to nine years in prison in the Melbourne court, having pleaded guilty to incitement to murder. "His voice always comes at night - 'Kill her, kill her'," Noela says of the nightmares that now plague her. "Every night I see what happened during the two days with the kidnappers." Ostraced by many in Melbourne's African community, some of whom blame her for Kalala's conviction, Noela sees a difficult future for her and her eight children. "But I will stand up like a strong woman," she says. "My situation, my past life? It's gone. I'm starting a new life now." Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox. Balenga Kalala's plan was to have her de facto wife kidnapped and murdered in Africa, where she attended her stepmother's funeral, because he wrongly suspected she was cheating on him. The Congolese truck operator from Kings Park, who arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, paid nearly $7,000 to the kidnappers but they eventually freed his de facto and mother to his three children, Noela Rukundo, because they did not kill women. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Balenga Kalala paid $7000 for his partner to be kidnapped and murdered. Upon her release, the kidnappers gave Mrs. Rukundo two receipts from Western Union for the $7,000 "blood money". Kalala had used a redrawing facility on the couple's home loan to get the money. When Mrs. Rukundo returned home to Melbourne and confronted her husband on their farm, he was shocked that she was still alive. He had told friends in his local African community in Melbourne's western part how his wife had died in a tragic accident in Burundi, and they had gathered around him to offer significant financial support to help him and the children. Miss Rukundo said, "Surprise! I'm still alive. You're an evil man. Why did you want me killed? What about your young children (five, 10, and 11)? Who would take care of them?" Advertisement The police were called but Kalala initially denied something wrong. Crown Attorney Douglas Trapnell, QC, told the Supreme Court that police secretly recorded a phone call between Kalala and his de facto on February 28, 2015, in which he asked her to forgive him and confirmed that he had arranged for her to be murdered. He thought she had had an affair and wanted to punish her for cheating. "Sometimes the Devil can get into someone, to do something, but after they do, they start thinking, 'Why did I do that thing? ', later', he told me. Trapnell explained that she had flown to Burundi on 21 January 2015 to attend her stepmother's funeral and visit relatives. Rukundo lived in a hotel in Burundi's capital Bujumbura during his trip and had regular contact with Kalala. Kalala had stayed home to care for the couple's three children, as well as Mrs. Rukundo's five children from previous conditions. Kalala called Mrs. Rukundo at about 20 o'clock local time on February 17 and after talking about the warm weather he told her to go out to get some fresh air. Mrs. Rukundo went out and was suddenly approached by a man armed with a gun. "This male threatened her with firearms, told her to shut up and forced her into a vehicle," said the prosecutor. "Two other unknown men were in the vehicle. The perpetrators covered Mrs. Rukundo's face and drove away." Mrs. Rukundo was driven to a secret location where a fourth man told me Kalala paid for her to be killed, but the kidnappers did not want to kill a woman. One of the kidnappers called Kalala on February 18 and told him in Swahili how they had finished the "big job" for him. The kidnapper told Kalala, "We've killed your wife and you're the winner." Kalala expressed her gratitude and said, "We are like a family." Mrs. Rukundo was released on February 19 and her kidnapper gave her a cell phone memory card containing the recorded phone calls they had had with Kalala over her planned murder and the receipts from her partners' payment. After her release, Rukundo sought help from the Kenyan and Belgian embassies to return to Australia and arrived in Melbourne on 22 February before leaving directly from the airport to confront Kalala. Judge Marilyn Warren detained Kalala for being convicted at a later date. <unk>