Girl, 16 loses arm & baby after refusing to abort

A 16-YEAR-OLD pupil has testified to the Chipata High Court that she miscarried and had her arm amputated after her boyfriend allegedly hacked her when she refused to terminate his pregnancy.
The grade 11 pupil of Chipata Day Secondary School was testifying against Lingford Soko, 18, of Anoya Zulu Secondary School, before Lusaka-based Judge William Mweemba on Tuesday.
Particulars of the offence are that on March 29, 2015, the 16-year-old girl was attacked by Soko, who is also in grade 11, after she refused to terminate the pregnancy.
Soko is facing one count of attempted murder, contrary to section 215(a) Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

The girl told the court that she knew the accused from the time she was in grade one, but started having a love affair with him in October last year.
She said a month later, she got pregnant and informed her boyfriend, who suggested that she aborts, but she refused.
“When I first informed him about the pregnancy, he seemed okay about it. But later he asked me to abort the pregnancy, but I refused. He gave me some herbs to drink, but I threw them away,” she said.
She said one day, Soko gave her two Coca-Cola drinks and asked her to boil one of them before drinking, but she took both drinks while they were cold.
On the material day, she told the court that she met her boyfriend around 20:00 hours when she went to buy airtime near her home in Chipata’s Mthilansembe area.
On their way, Soko got upset and insisted that she aborts when she told him that she did not know how to break the news of the pregnancy to her parents.
“While we were arguing, my boyfriend hit me on the neck. I could not see what object he had used because there was little light from the nearby house. I fell to the ground, but still he continued to hit me until I lost consciousness,” she said.
“I was in a pool of blood and I could not remember what exactly was happening. The following day, my left arm, which was badly injured, was amputated and I discovered that I had a miscarriage. I want Lingford to pay also for the injuries he caused me,” she said.

ZambiaDailyMail