BT man arrested for abducting schoolgirl
Police in Blantyre have apprehended a 27-year-old businessperson, Kasimu Kandulu, for allegedly abducting a secondary school girl.
Blantyre Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Elizabeth Divala, told Nyasa Times that Kandulu was arrested Wednesday morning at his residence in Zingwangwa Township after police got a complaint that their daughter had gone missing from home.
“The school girl went missing on 24th February 2014. Her parents reported the matter to police and we launched investigations. She was found today [26th February] locked in Mr. Kandulu’s house in Zingwangwa Township,” Divala told Nyasa Times.
The police publicist said the girl [name withheld] is in Form 3 at Zingwangwa Secondary School and was reportedly in an affair with the businessman.
Kandulu, who was charged with abducting a girl less than 16 years, which is contrary to Section 136 of the Penal Code, comes from Jalasi Village, T/A Jalasi in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.
The Malawi Constitution on Section 22 stipulates that no person shall be forced to enter into marriage under the age of 16 but can do so if consent is granted from their parents and guardians.
But activists have disagreed with the existence of the clause saying it is a loophole which forces the rampant early marriages in the country thereby exposing young girls to get married before their time.
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