Kasungu First Grade Magistrate Court has sentenced Martin Phiri aged 18 to 9 years imprisonment with hard labour for raping a 73-year-old woman.
Kasungu deputy public relations officer Harry Namwaza said the rape happened on May 18, 2018 at Jalang’ombe village, Traditional Authority Mwase in the district.
Namwaza said on the said date Phiri at around 18:30 hours visited the victim’s house who at that particular was with her grandchildren who were drinking Kachasu beer outside her house.
“Phiri then joined the victim’s grandchildren in drinking the Kachasu beer,” he explained.
Later, Phiri fished out K500 and gave the womans grandchildren to go and buy more Kachasu beer for them to drink together.
Just as the victim’s grandchildren left, Phiri grabbed the victim and forcefully took her to a nearby bush where he raped her.
In court, Phiri pleaded guilty to the charge of rape and in mitigation he pleaded for leniency saying he was a first offender.
But state prosecutor Inspector Griffin Luhanga argued that Phiri’s behaviour was morally unacceptable in the society looking also at his age the age of the victim.
Luhanga further argued that instead of taking a responsibility to protect old people like the victim, Phiri did the opposite by committing a heinous crime on the victim.
Before passing sentence, Kasungu First Grade Magistrate Damiano Banda said Phiri’s behaviour deserve stiff sentences if moral sanity is to be maintained in our societies. Banda then slapped Phiri with a 9 year jail term.
Martin Phiri comes from Jalang’ombe village, Traditional Authority Mwaswe in Kasungu district.
