A retired magistrate has argued that mob justice against suspected rapists could help reduce cases of rape in the country.
Retired Child Justice Magistrate, Esmie Tembenu who is now a child rights activist has supported calls by Minister of Homeland Security, Richard Chimwendo Banda that rapists should be beaten up before being taken to police.
Speaking to the local media, Tembenu said the alarming rise in cases of rape and child sexual abuse in the country requires a strong measure.
“Naturally I’m not for mob justice but on this issue of defilement, it pains me a lot. Imagine if you were to go home and find your houseboy or older man on top of your two-year-old girl, and your daughter is bleeding profusely, would you tell people don’t beat him let’s take him to the police,” she told Nation Online.
Tembenu also expressed surprise that people who steal goats are sometimes beaten by mobs but rapists are usually spared.
In her support for mob justice, Tembenu gave the example of the ‘shoot to kill’ policy over armed robbery during the Bingu wa Mutharika administration which she said helped bring sanity.
Chimwendo Banda first advocated for mob justice against rapists on Sunday and he came under fire from Malawians who accused him of failing to use his position to find solutions for reducing the cases of rape.
Recently, Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa said people found guilty of rape of children should be sentenced to death.
Nankhumwa presented statistics which show that there were 1,293 rape cases in 2018 including sexual assault against children and 1440 cases in in 2019.
In 2020, Malawi has recorded 1738 cases with 182 rape cases in January this year whilst 237 cases were recorded in October. Lilongwe recorded the highest number of cases at 234 while Ntcheu recorded 56 cases.
