Dowa herbalist gets 8 years for raping client

Mponela First Grade Magistrate’s Court in Dowa has sentenced herbalist Thom Binison, 45, to eight years imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping a female client.

Mponela Police Station prosecutor Sammie Coglo Liwonde told the court that the herbalist raped the woman on the pretext of administering charms to reunite her with her former husband after the couple divorced.

The court also heard that the victim got married in 2010, but her husband terminated the marriage on January 14 2019. The circumstances forced the woman to go and live with her sister at Madisi Trading Centre in the district.

According to Liwonde, her friends advised her to consult a herbalist to revive her marriage.

He said Binison asked the victim to meet him at midnight, but when she went there, he dragged her to a nearby graveyard and raped her.

 “The herbalist told the victim that she would die if she refused to have sex with him,” said Liwonde, adding that the convict admitted to having unprotected sex with the woman.

In mitigation, the suspect prayed for leniency, saying he has two wives and children to look after.

But presiding magistrate Yohane Nkhata said the sentence should serve as a warning to would- be-offenders.

Binison comes from Makala Village, Traditional Authority Mlonyeni in Mchinji.