Police are keeping in custody a 33 year old man in Nkhata Bay district for physically assaulting his stepdaughter.
The man Fumbani Mwale severely wounded the 15 year old girl on Monday.
The victim told police that on the date of the incident, she met her stepfather Mr. Fumbani Mwale at Limphasa within Matete area in the district.
Mwale persuaded the victim to accompany him to Chiwaya forest for undisclosed reasons.
As the two were in the forest, the man forced the young girl to take some traditional medicine that he found in the forest.
Upon taking the medicine, the girl felt stomach pains and she became weak.
The suspect took advantage and attacked the victim. He brutally assaulted her in the head and on the face with a stone. The girl sustained multiple cuts and was left unconscious.
Women who were fetching firewood in the forest later came across the wounded girl and reported the matter to police who rushed to the scene.
The victim was immediately taken to Nkhata Bay District Hospital where she was admitted and later gained consciousness.
The suspect was later arrested. According to police, he attacked the victim for not taking heed of his advice over her behaviour.
He will soon appear in court to answer the charge of unlawful wounding which contravenes section 241 of the Penal Code.
He is originally from Chinkwecha village in the area of Traditional Authority Mnyanja in Kasungu District.
