The First Grade Magistrate’s Court at Monkey Bay in Mangochi on Friday sentenced 51-year-old Kananga M’baya to 8 years in prison for raping a 13-year-old girl with mental illness.
Public Relations Officer for Monkey Bay Police Station Sergeant Alice Sichali has confirmed to Malawi24 the conviction of Kananga M’baya.
Sergeant Sichali has told Malawi24 that court heard through the State Prosecutor Inspector Lyson Kachikondo that on November 11, 2023, at around 15:00hrs at Chiwalo Village, the child with her friends went to the borehole to fetch water.
She said that on their way back, they met with the suspect who ordered the girl to drop the bucket of water to his house and the girl complied.
Whilst there, the convict started touching the girl’s private parts and forced himself onto her. She felt pain and screamed for help and later she managed to run away.
She reported the sexual abuse to her mother who later reported it to Monkey Bay Police station leading to the arrest of M’baya.
In court, the M’baya pleaded not guilty which prompted the state to parade four witnesses who proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
In mitigation, M’baya asked the court to exercise leniency when giving the sentence claiming to be the breadwinner to his family.
In his submission, the state prosecutor asked the court to impose meaningful sentence to the convict citing that such cases are rampant in Monkey Bay hence to deter who would be offenders.
Presiding over the case, First Grade Magistrate Mtunduwatha Mpasu concurred with the state’s submission and slapped M’baya to 8 years jail term.
M’baya, hails from Chiwalo Village in the area of Traditional Authority Nankumba in Mangochi District.
