September 2007
Mother Seeks LRF Help To Prosecute Daughter's Defiler
By Perpetual Sichikwenkwe
A MOTHER in Chama has appealed to the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) to represent her in court over a case in which her daughter was defiled but the lower court acquitted the defiler despite the overwhelming evidence available.
Margaret Mudinga says she was not happy with the outcome of the judgment in her daughter's defilement case and that she was a vulnerable person who could not hire the services of a lawyer to represent her. Mudinga said her efforts to appeal have proved futile.
Mudinga complained to Catholic Commission for Peace Development and Justice (CCJDP), Chama Paralegal, Rayi Mtonga that she questioned the legality of dismissing the defilement case which had the backing of a medical report confirming the girl was defiled and that the girl was able to identify the defiler.
Testifying in court, Mudinga said that on August 4 2006, her 13-year-old daughter went to watch a video show around 19:00 hours and in the process a man called Ngalaba Chibanga had carnal knowledge of her.
The girl, who was in the company of her two friends came back home around 22:00 hours and kept on crying without disclosing what was wrong with her.
Mudinga contacted her aunt, Agnes Mudinga, to ask the girl what the problem was and the girl disclosed that Chibanga had sexual intercourse with her in the bush the previous night.
Agnes inspected the girl's private parts and discovered that she was swollen and the semen was still coming out.
Agnes reported the matter to the acting Headman who summoned all his children to the meeting. When Chibanga was asked at the meeting whether the allegations were true, he denied. On August 5 2006, the matter was reported to police who issued a medical report form to enable the girl seek medical attention.
The girl told the court that on August 4 2006 she went to watch a video show at night at Chinyengo village in the company of nine other people. She said while watching video in a grass enclosure, one of her friends informed her that Chibanga was calling her outside. When she went out, Chibanga allegedly informed her that he wanted to have sex with her but she refused because she was young and that Chibanga was her brother.
The girl alleged that Chibanga dragged her into the bush where he tied her mouth with a cloth and defiled her.
The girl said she experienced a lot of pain and she was failing to sit although she went back to watch video. When asked why she did not tell anyone, the girl said it was because Chibanga was her brother and she was scared that her mother would beat her up. LRF Chipata paralegal Clement Mwale noted that it was extremely strange and unprofessional not to have called the girl who was allegedly sent by Chibanga to call the defiled girl as a witness. Mwale referred the matter to the Divisional Prosecution Officer (DPO) who was also surprised by the unprofessional prosecution of the case. The DPO advised that he would seek further consultation on the matter with the DPP.