Actor Phwedo, real name Tumpe Mtaya, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of having sexual intercourse with a female child and child abduction.
Mtaya made the plea after Lilongwe principal resident magistrate Benjamin Chulu read the charges in court.
On the charge of having sexual intercourse with a female child the accused is alleged to have been sexually intimate repeatedly with the minor since February 17 to22 April 22 when he was arrested.
On child abduction, he is alleged to have kept the victim during that period without consent of her parents.
Defence lawyer Khwima Mchizi asked the court to order the State to produce the minor’s Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) identity card and hospital documents for evidence.
He said the defence believes that the case, apart from resting on sexual intercourse with a minor, also tackles a point of law on the age of the victim.
Said Mchizi: “We believe the State have proof of the age of the victim and if she claims that she wrote MSCE last year, there must be an ID.
“We also got an age assessment report from the hospital which we believe there were documents that were used and we would also want to have a look at the documents and if there were images that were taken, we would want to use them in the cross examination.”
In response, State prosecutor Dalireni Kalanguluka said since the accused has pleaded not guilty, witnesses will be paraded when trial begins.
He added that the documents requested by the defence will be part of the evidence.
“Those who provided the documents will be called as witnesses during trial so there’s no need to worry about that now. Moreover, there are different ways of proving someone’s age,” said Kalanguluka.
Chulu adjourned the matter to May 16 when he will deliver the ruling on the application.
