2 men jailed 10 years for jointly raping teenager

The Mzuzu Senior Resident Magistrate court has sentenced two men to a 10 year imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) each for jointly raping a 16 year old girl. 

The court heard that the accused, Yachema Ngwira, 20 and Symon Mhango, 27 raped the girl on the night of August 31, 2018 as she was going to her home from night dances.

Mzuzu Police State Prosecutor, Thandi Lungu told the court that Ngwira and Mhango tied wide open the girl’s legs with ropes and raped her in turns on that night. 

Both suspects pleaded in their mitigations for the court’s leniency, saying they were first offenders, married and that they were sole breadwinners of their families. They further said they had molded bricks which could be destroyed by rains if sent to prison.

However, Senior Resident Magistrate Matthews Msiska quashed aside the mitigation factors and sentenced each of them to 10 year imprisonment with hard labour.

He said:“Considering aggravating factors that the accused used violence, defiled the girl without condoms and that such brutal incidents are becoming rampart across the country, I therefore sentence each of you to a 10 year jail term as such behaviour puts at risk lives of girls and women. “

Ngwira comes from Palango Village and Mhango hails from Mhango Village in the area of Traditional Authority Mtwalo in Mzimba District.

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