Malawi court jails man 9 years for sexual assualt and impregnating form-one student
A 23-year-old man Yona Kamowa is to spend nine years in incarceration for defiling and impregnating a 14-year-old girl, Blantyre Magistrates Court has ruled.
Kamowa was on Thursday found guilty by Senior Resident Magistrate, Edina Bodole despite pleading not guilty to the charge of Defilement contrary to Section 138(1) of the Penal Code.
According to facts presented in court by State Prosecutor, Sub-Inspector Victor Nachuma, Kamowa, a resident of Chilobwe Township in Blantyre, had been defiling a form-one student (name withheld) since 2014.
He was arrested in December, 2015 when the issue was eventually reported to law-enforcers.
Kamowa, who was represented by lawyer Joseph Kankwasi of Joe and Max Chambers, denied the charge but was found guilty after a full trial.
In his mitigation, he pleaded for suspended sentence on the ground that it was his first time to break the law.
However, Sub-Inspector Nachuma called for a stiffer sentence as there was premeditation on the part of the convict, and that there is high prevalence of defilement offences in the country.
“The victim shall live with the guilt and shame caused by the convict; and the victim is not mature to withstand the complications associated with pregnancy. The hunger of education she had will soon die out
because her focus shall be on the unborn baby she is carrying and she risked contacting STIs,” argued Sub-Inspector Nachuma.
Senior Resident Magistrate, Bodole concurred with the State by imposing a nine-year jail term on Kamowa.
Kamowa hailed from Kaodza village, T/A Kwataine in Ntcheu district.
Akamadzatuluka adzapeza mfana wakeyo ali STD 5, indeed this is Stiff Punishment yofunika achina Dumisani Mvula.
Me thinks punishment too harsh. It seems magistrate was too emotional. Had already made a verdict b4 trial was concluded. How do u send a young man to jail for 9 yrs? After serving jail he will be worse off. Is this reformatory or Gehenna?
Punishing the offender is good but the punishment is too stiff considering the age of the youngman and that the the girl was already over thirteen years and was old enough to report rape if it was indeed there. Ana akazi ena amakhala ndi nyere kwambiri. Criminal justice in Malawi is quite interesting, still billions by Lutepo got 11 years (stealing our money and causing deaths due to lack of medicine in hospitals) while this poor young person got 9 years for bonking a child! This is sad for our legal system and this is why magistrates are sometimes not… Read more »