Man gets 12 years jail for sexual assualt on school girl
Machinga First Grade Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced a 30-year – old man to serve 12 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling a 14-year-old girl.
The court heard that Assam Kabati had been defiling the Standard Four learner at Puteya Primary School, which is contrary to Section 138 of the Penal Code.
Machinga Police Station prosecutor, Sergeant Davie Katandika told the court that Kabati had been enticing the girl, who is his sister in-law, to have sex with him but the girl refused.
Katandika told the court that the girl (name withheld) once reported the matter to her grandmother and the convict apologised for his conduct when summoned by elders.
The court further heard that one day, the accused followed the girl to a near-by river where he forced himself on her but the girl did not report the matter.
“On May 21, 2018, the accused again followed the girl to her grandmother’s garden where he dragged her to a nearby bush and had forced sexual intercourse for the second time,” he said.
The girl then reported the matter to her parents who reported to Machinga Police Station where the victim was granted a medical report form for medical examination and treatment.
Findings from Machinga District Hospital proved that the girl had indeed been defiled, the court heard.
During court hearing, the accused pleaded not guilty and denied the charge which forced the state to parade three witnesses who proved the matter beyond reasonable doubt and the accused was finally found guilty.
Police prosecutor Katandika asked the court to impose a meaningful punishment to the convict considering that the offence he committed was a serious one and that such cases were common in the area.
He also argued that that the accused had traumatized the victim.
Passing judgment, First Grade Magistrate Jones Masula handed down a 12-year jail term sentence, which he said was meant to serve as a lesson to the convict and deter other would-be offenders from committing a similar crime.
Kabati hails from Fundeni Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chamba in Machinga.
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