A 33-year-old primary school teacher at Matonga Primary School in Dedza is in police custody for raping a thirteen-year-old pupil.
Dedza Police deputy spokesperson Cassim Manda said the suspect, Boniface Arnold, had been friends with victim’s family.
In August 2020, the suspect called the victim to his house to help him with household chores.
Taking advantage of his wife’s absence, the suspect raped the victim and infected her with candidiasis in the process. Then the victim became sick some weeks later.
When her aunt went to see her, she noticed something on her private parts and observed that they had been tampered with.
The victim was taken to hospital where she was given sexual transmitted infection remedy but denied to disclose the one who infected her with disease.
In mid-March 2021, the suspect called the victim and again he raped her. He then gave her synthetic hair and again warned her not to reveal about the rape.
Then the hair was discovered by the victim’s young brother who later informed their aunt about the item. At this juncture, the victim’s aunt recalled about the victim’s candidiasis and suspected something fishy was happening to her niece.
After questioning her, she eventually opened up that the teacher molested her twice and was the one who infected her with STI.
The case was reported to school management, and was later transferred to Dedza police station.
Police took the victim to Dedza District Hospital, where a medical test reportedly revealed that her hymen had been ruptured.
Arnold has since been arrested for defilement contrary to section 138 of penal code which attracts the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The suspect hails from Kusinja village in the area of traditional authority Kachere in Dedza and has been working as a teacher for seven years.
