The First Grade Magistrate’s Court in Rumphi on Thursday sentenced a 34-year-old man to 7 years in prison for biting off the ear of another man.
The man, Dokiso Chirambo, was found guilty of grievous harm which is against Section 238 of the Penal code.
Rumphi Police Station’s Prosecution Officer, Inspector Kelvin Ng’ambi told the court that Chirambo committed the offence on January 10, 2021, at Mbulunji in the district.
Ng’ambi further said, the victim, Khwima Chirambo, owed the convict K300.
On this material date, Dokiso went to the house of the victim at around 11:00 PM, to remind and collect his money.
However, instead of repaying money, the victim pleaded with him to come another day as he had no cash then. This angered Dokiso who immediately jumped over the victim. He completely bit off the victim’s ear.
Hearing a cry, members of community woke up and caught Dokiso who was fleeing after the incident.
He was later taken to Ntchenachena Police Unit where he was formally charged with grievous harm. The victim was referred to Lura Health Center for treatment.
Appearing before First Grade Magistrate Cuthbert Phiri, Dokiso pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him. This forced the state to parade three witnesses who testified against him and was found guilty.
In submission, Inspector Ng’ambi asked the court to give a deterrent sentence which would serve as a lesson to him and deter other would-be offenders. Ng’ambi added that the victim was left with a permanent body disfigurement just because of a small amount of money, a thing which Chirambo could have avoided.
In mitigation, he asked for the court’s leniency saying he was first offender and bread-winner.
Passing the sentence, magistrate Phiri quashed Chirambo’s mitigations, saying Chirambo behaved like a wild animal by biting off another person’s ear just because of K300 credit.
He therefore sentenced the convict to 7 years and 6 months imprisonment with hard labour.
Chirambo comes from Kaulanda Village under Traditional Authority Mwahenga in Rumphi District.
