A Malawian court in Chikwawa district has sentenced a 19-year-old man to 10 years in jail for raping a 20-year-old woman.
According to Chikwawa police spokesperson, Foster Benjamin, John Henry was convicted on Monday before First Grade Magistrate’s Court.
State Prosecutor, Danford Otala, told the court that, the convict encountered Awinalesi Jack at at Mafuwa Village under Traditional Authority Maseya, on July 20 this year around 8 o’clock in the evening.
“At the time, Jack was looking for a certain builder and met Henry whom she asked for a direction to the builder’s house.
“The accused initially pretended that he was the very same person (the builder) that she was searching for, but the woman dismissed him outright,” narrated Prosecutor Otala in court.
The convict then confessed that he was not the builder but promised to accompany the victim to the builder’s residence.
While on the way, Henry ended up raping the victim causing the victim to immediately start calling out for help.
Village head Mafuwa and his subjects woke to the victim’s cry and rushed to the scene where they caught the accused in the act.
He was apprehended and handed over to police.
In his ruling, Magistrate Gladstone Chirundu concurred with the state and bemoaned a rise in rape and defilement cases in the district.
He sentenced the convict to 10 years imprisonment as a measure to deter would-be offenders.
Henry hails from Misiri Village in the area of T/A Maseya in Chikwawa District.
