Minister Kaliati warns against circulating video of the stripped woman
Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social, Patricia Kaliati has warned that law enforcers will arrest and fine anyone found circulating a video clip of a woman who was stripped naked.
Last week, social media was flooded with a video clip of a poor and helpless woman being stripped off naked by her fellow community members in broad daylight accusing her of adultery.
Kaliati sent a warning during a press conference held in Lilongwe that the act is the highest level of human rights violation, which cannot be tolerated in the country.
“While the place of occurrence is not yet known, I would like to assure the public that we will do our best to find and apprehend the culprits,” she said.
According to her, preliminary investigations have shown that the incident did not happen either in Ntchisi and Mchinji. Police, social welfare officers and heads of community were deployed to do the investigations.
Kaliati added that such harmful acts attract five years imprisonment with hard labour or a fine of 1 million according to the Gender Equality Act.
She therefore appealed to the public to desist from using the nudity and sexuality of women as a form of punishment for conflict resolution.
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) Executive Secretary, Habiba Osman, said the Commission will conduct a full investigation of the matter.
Osman said the Commission was concerned with what has happened to a woman because it is a human rights violation and a criminal offence for not only those who are circulating but also to the one who took it.
“Someone’s human rights and dignity have been violated at the same time culturally. It is not acceptable to do such things as we respect women,” she said.
The Commission, Osman said, is looking at the long-term effects of the concerned woman and how society uses phones and other tools to spread information that harms others.
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