Malawi Pentecostal pastor jailed 7 years for sexual assualt tean girl

Nkhotakota First Grade Magistrate Court has sentenced Winners Chapel pastor Brighton Favor Mbewe aged 35 to seven years imprisonment for defiling a 14 year old girl.

According to the girl -name withheld for legal reasons – the pastor sexually assaulted her repeatedly in December last year at the time her mother used to send her to assist the Pentecostal cleric with house chores since he was unmarried.

Early this year, her mother suspected her daughter being pregnant upon asking her on the matter she accepted.

When cornered to who was correspondent to the pregnancy, the girl revealed that the pastor was pumping her.

This frustrated the mother who without hesitation reported the matter to Nkhotakota police who on February 23, this year, arrested the pastor and a defilement case against him was opened contrary to section 138 of the Penal Code.

The Pastor pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Police paraded three prosecution witnesses to prove the case.

One of the witnesses’ police criminal investigator detective Inspector Joseph Namuse told the court that upon receiving the case they swiftly arrested the pastor.

The police then took the victim to Nkhotakota district hospital where it was confirmed that the girl was three months old pregnant.

Police prosecutor Sub Inspector James NgupasyeMuyira pleaded with the magistrate to give a custodial sentence despite being the first offender.

In mitigation, pastor Mbewe asked for a lenient sentence saying the girl was not as young as alleged and was willfully given by her mother following the help he was rendering to their family.

The mother however hsaid the years were not enough compared to what he did to the girl.

According to her, the convict had destroyed the life of the victim so the 7 years could not compensate the girl.