20 years IHL for defilement
Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court in Mzuzu has sentenced Vitumbiko Twea, 23, to 20 years imprisonment for defiling a four-year-old girl.
Defilement, which infringes Section 138(1) of the Penal Code, carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with hard labour, but many convicts get away with jail terms of less than 14 years.
Such was the case on Friday when Mzimba First Grade Magistrate’s Court imposed a 12-and-a-half year jail sentence on Agent Mtonga, 58, for defiling his nine-year-old step daughter.
The same day, Twea had a shock of his life when senior resident magistrate Texious Masoamphambe convicted him of raping the child on November 7 2016 in Mchengautuba Township, Mzuzu.
The girl’s parents were renting a house belonging to the convict’s family.
She told the court that on the said day, Twea called her into the house and forced himself on her. The girl said the convict warned her against revealing the issue.
Twea denied the charge, but police prosecutor Bettie Msowoya paraded five witnesses who testified against him.
Msowoya said defilement is a serious offence as it attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“The convict breached the trust the victim had as she ironically called him uncle,” she said.
Twea pleaded for leniency, but the magistrate sentenced him to two decades’ imprisonment because cases of sexual violence are on the increase.
According to statistics from the district social welfare office, Mzimba North and Mzuzu registered 126 defilement cases last year. n
