Another male nurse sexually abuses pregnant woman: Malawi police keeping him in custody

Malawi Police in Dedza are keeping in custody a male midwifery nurse for allegedly sexually abusing a pregnant woman who had gone to the government health facility for health services.

Spokesman for Dedza police Edward Kabango has confirmed the arrest of Supriano John who works at Kafere Health Centre in the district but could not give details, saying the police were still investigating the matter.

But Dedza Hospital acting health officer Grace Mathewe said the lady lodged a complaint to local leaders and the authorities in the district after the incident and the police acted promptly in arresting the suspect.

“She told the police that Mr John was telling her that she is very beautiful, went into details of her body and he allegedly said that he wanted to test her, not through the normal medical tests,” said Mathewe.

It was not immediately known whether John forced himself onto the woman.

But Mathewe said hospital authorities will only act after they get the side of the story from the nurse.

“Currently he is in police custody therefore we have not managed to talk him. Once he is out, we will ask him to write a report and we will see what we can do after that,” he said.

He said a disciplinary hearing would be done by the council with recommendations sent to ministry headquarters.

This is not the first incident of such abuses in government health facilities with fears that some incidents may have gone unreported.