The Limbe Senior Resident Magistrate’s court has ordered a 38-year-old woman, Mercy Majawa to pay a fine of K200,000 and indefault to serve a 2months jail term for her involvement in the sharing of an explicit video clip of a fellow woman on social media.
The convict was apprehended on May 7, 2023, at Khama area in Machinjiri Township following a complaint lodged at Khama Police Unit.
Detectives swiftly acted upon the complaint, which alleged that Majawa had shared a nude video clip of a local businesswoman from the same area.
According to Sergeant Aubrey Singanyama, Public Relations Officer for Limbe Police Station, the court heard through state prosecutor Inspector Grace Kanjiwa that, the convict distributed the explicit video clip on Church and school WhatsApp groups.
During her appearance in court, Majawa pleaded not guilty, leading the state to parade two witnesses in an effort to prove the case beyond reasonable doubts.
In her mitigation, the convict asked for a lenient sentence citing that she is the first offender and also that she takes care of 9 orphans.
In her submission, Inspector Kanjiwa, prayed for a meaningful sentence to deter would be offenders and she mentioned that the offence committed was demeaning to women and that the convict’s action did not tally with her age.
Senior Resident Magistrate Sajida Maiden, then ordered Majawa to pay a fine of K200,000 or in default the convict to serve a two-month term in imprisonment with hard labor (IHL).
Out of the total fine amount, K190,000 will be allocated as compensation to the victim, while the remaining K10,000 will go to government.
The convict has since paid the fine.
In light of this incident, Police in the area, are therefore urging the general public to refrain from sharing of explicit material on social media as such actions directly contradict Section 87 of the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act.
Mercy Majawa hails from Magombo village in the area of Traditional Authority Machinjiri in Blantyre District.
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