Health worker gets 42 years for defilement

Mzuzu-based High Court of Malawi judge Justus Kishindo on Tuesday sentenced a 37-year-old health surveillance assistant (HSA) to 42 years imprisonment for defiling a girl under the age of 16.

The court heard that the man, name concealed to protect the identity of the victim, was in a relationship with the girl who was 14 in 2018.

He is said to have impregnated her and forced her to abort, which she did.

The HSA was arrested on September 2 2020 for defiling the girl and providing her with drugs to abort pregnancy.

In his ruling, Kishindo said the convict impregnated the girl again in 2020 and supplied drugs to her, knowing that the said drugs would cause a miscarriage.

The girl reported the matter to her parents who in turn, reported to police. The man was arrested and charged with defilement, contrary to Section 138 (1) of the Penal Code and for supplying drugs for the purpose of inducing miscarriage, contrary to

 Section 151 of the Penal Code.

In a lower court, the HSA pleaded guilty and was convicted on both counts. He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on the first count and two years for the second one.

But Kishindo said the court found irritating factors in both offences which attracted a stiffer punishment.

He said: “In view of the gravity and circumstances of the offence, the 14-year sentence imposed by the lower court is inadequate.

“Therefore, this court sets aside the lower court’s sentence and replaces it with a 42-year imprisonment effective from the date of the convict’s arrest.”

In recent times, the country has registered an increase in defilement cases.