The Principal Resident Magistrate court in Lilongwe has today sentenced a 39-year-old man, Kondwani Chitukula, to 20 years imprisonment for raping a 9-year-old step-granddaughter in the district.
Representing the state, Sub Inspector Vincent Ntalawe told the court that Chitukula committed the offence from January to February, 2023.
Ntalawe further said that the victim was staying with her grandmother, wife to the suspect.
Some women alerted the child’s biological parents after noticing the girl’s difficulties in walking.
When parents took her to Kamuzu Central Hospital for medical examination, the results indicated that the victim was defiled several times.
This led to the arrest of Chitukula.
Despite his plea of not guilty, the court convicted Chitukula after the state paraded four witnesses.
In mitigation, the convict prayed for leniency saying that he is a first offender.
But in his submission, Ntalawe asked the court to slap the convict with stiffer sentence saying that as a parent to the victim, Chitukula was supposed to be at the forefront protecting and defending the rights of the girl.
Ntalawe further said that considering that it is her own guardian who raped the child, the girl suffered trauma that will hunt her for the rest of her life.
Passing sentence, Principal Resident Magistrate Rodrick Michongwe concurred with the state, while quashing the mitigating factors.
Michongwe further observed that defilement is a serious offence that attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
He then went on to sentence Chitukula to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour to serve as a deterrent to other would be offenders.
The convict, Kondwani Chitukula hails from Chiwala Village, Traditional Authority Masula in Lilongwe District.
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