Malawi Police arrest 3 for assaulting and stripping woman: Accuses her of disclosing one’s HIV status

Malawi Police in Lilongwe have arrested and are in keeping in custody at Kanengo Police Station three women for allegedly harrassing, severly assaulting and stripping naked a fellow 30 year old woman (name shielded.)

While confirming the development to Nyasa Times, Kanengo Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Sub-Inspector Laban Makalani said the pictures and a video clip of the incident had already gone viral on social media.

It is reported that the incident happened at a brothel in Area 25C-Sector C on 18th October 2017.

“We received a complaint from the victim on Friday that she was harrassed, assaulted and stripped naked for about eight hours [900hrs-1700hrs] on October 18th 2017. She told us that she was coaxed from her house located in Area 25 Sector 3 to the house of the main culprit where upon arrival, she found a gang of about seven women who started to accuse her of wrong doing in dsclosing the HIV Sero Status [Of the main culprit] to the general public and later severly ssaulted her before she was stripped naked” Sub-Inspector Makalani told Nyasa Times.

Makalani identified the main culprit as Thokozani Usiska aged 27 while the other two are Zelipher Phiri (27) and Rodness Chisale (40).

The three are currently in Police custody while the other four accomplices were still on the run as this article was published.

According to Makalani, Police are still investigating the matter and that the suspects will appear before court soon to answer charges of Acts intended to cause grievance harm, Insulting the modesty of a
woman and publishing/disctribution of phonographic materials which is against the penal code.

The video clip seen by this reporter shows the the suspects urinating on the victim and make fun of her as she lies helplessly on the floor suspected to be inside the house of Usiska.

A Human Trafficking Law Expert Habiba Osman in March this year together with the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare strongly condemned the acts of stripping others naked and
circulation of pornographic materials via social media without consent describing the acts as a serious violation of Human Rights.

This followed the incident that happened in the Business District of Blantyre where a woman was stripped naked and paraded in the street after she was caught stealing in one of the shops.

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