Kitwe guard jailed 20 years with hard labour for defilement

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THE Kitwe High Court has sentenced a 34-year-old security guard of Chambishi Township in Kalulushi to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling a 14-yearold girl on two different occasions.

This is in a case where Godfrey Mwelwa was indicted and convicted of one count of defilement.
Particulars of the offence were that Mwelwa, between August 1 and 28, 2011, in Chambishi, had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16.
He denied the charge but was found guilty and convicted of the offence by the Chambishi Magistrate’s Court.
When the matter came up for sentencing before Kitwe High Court judge Judy Mulongoti on Wednesday, Mwelwa through Legal Aid lawyer Ignatius Chongwe urged the court to exercise leniency in sentencing him because he was a first offender.
“Further, there are no aggravating circumstances in the case and he is remorseful for his crime. We therefore pray that the court may impose the statutory minimum sentence,” Mr Chongwe said.
But Mrs Justice Mulongoti observed that although there were no aggravating circumstances, she would impose a sentence above the statutory minimum because defilement cases were on the increase.
“The courts needs to send a strong message to wouldbe offenders,” Mrs Justice Mulongoti said.
During trial, the prosecutrix told the court that on one of the occasions that the accused defiled her, she and her older brother had gone to Mwelwa’s house.
She told the court that Mwelwa bought tujilijili, a home-distilled spirit, and gave the alcohol to her older brother to drink.
She narrated that Mwelwa then dragged her to his bedroom and had sex with her.
The girl’s mother testified that her seven-year-old son told her that the prosecutrix had
bought beer with her friend and that she drank it with Mwelwa.
The girl’s mother testified that later that day, she learnt that Mwelwa tried to have sex with her friend’s daughter but she refused.
The girl’s mother said she decided to check the prosecutrix’s private parts and observed that the vaginal area appeared big.
When pestered she confessed that she had been having sex with Mwelwa.

 

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