Court fines three men over bloodsuckers’ issue
The Chikwawa Second Grade Magistrate’s Court has ordered three men to pay a fine of K150 000 and K60 000 each for malicious damage and inciting violence or in default serve 24 months and 15 months imprisonment, concurrently.
The convicts, Kasisi Katunga, 32, Chalamanda Giliwadi, 39, and Chikafa Kachingwe, 63, from Salumeji Village in T/A Ratings were convicted on Monday.
Chikwakwa Police spokesperson Constable Foster Benjamin said prosecutor Levison Musote told the court that the convicts, on the evening of 11 November, 2017, stormed into Kasinthula Lodge demanding to deal with alleged bloodsuckers who were in the lodge.
”Since they couldn’t find the alleged bloodsuckers, the three went on rampage inciting violence and damaging property worth K1,487,265,” Benjamin said.
He said that the three and two other women, who were acquitted in the case, were arrested following police investigation into the matter.
During trial, the three denied the charges, prompting the State to parade eight witnesses whose testimonies proved that the three had a case to answer.
In his submission, Prosecutor Musote asked the court to hand the accused persons stiff penalties taking into account the impact of bloodsucking allegations on the lodge business.
In their mitigations, the three pleaded with the court not to impose on them a custodial sentence but rather fines which they said they would be settled in instalments.
Passing his sentence, Second Grade Magistrate Joram Zebron concurred with the state and fined the accused persons K150,000 each for the first count of malicious damage and K60,000 each for inciting violence or in default serve 24 months and 15 months in jail on both counts concurrently.
