Ntchisi First Grade Magistrate Court has sentenced 22-year-old Dyson Banda to eight years in prison for raping two boys under the age of 18.
State Prosecutor Dalitso Ng’oma told the court that between the night of 27 and 28 August 2023, the mother of the children noticed that, one of her sons did not sleep at home, a situation which prompted her to question him.
“After being questioned, the child told her parents that, he had slept at the accused person’s house and that he had sex with him,” said Ng’oma.
He added that the woman’s other child also told his parents that Banda had also sexually abused him earlier that month.
Ng’oma said the parents reported the matter to police who referred the two children to Malomo health centre where examination confirmed that the two were defiled.
In court, Banda pleaded guilty to the charges of sleeping with a minor, but prayed for leniency saying he is an orphan.
The state, however, prayed for a stiffer sentence to be given to the convict despite him being the first offender, as such cases are rampant in the district and that the convict was supposed to protect the children and not take advantage of them.
In her ruling, Magistrate Dorothy Kalua gave the convict seven years with hard labour on the first count and 8 years in jail on the second count. The sentences will run concurrently which means he will spend eights years in prison.
In Malawi, sexually abusing a child under the age of 18 is a crime under Section 160 (b) of the penal code and it attracts a maximum of life imprisonment.
Reported by Maria Tembo
