Mangochi Senior Resident Magistrate court has sentenced a 49-year-old teacher, Nelson Lipenga, to 20-years imprisonment with hard labour for raping a 15-year-old Standard 8 pupil at his school.
According to Mangochi Police Station Public Relations Officer, Inspector Amina Tepani Daudi, Lipenga is a teacher at Mama Khadija Girls Private Primary School (Boarding)
and he raped the child on March 14th, 2024.
Mangochi Prosecution Officer, Inspector Amos Mwase told the court that the school’s Headmistress on the evening of March 9, 2024, while inspecting students during day study time, noted that the victim was missing from the study room.
Upon checking the storeroom which was unlocked, she found the victim sitting on a table in a compromised position.
The child revealed that she was having sexual intercourse with the teacher and that the convict had been sexually molesting her since last year when she was in Standard 7.
“The matter was reported at Namwera Police Post where the victim was issued a referral letter to Mangochi District Hospital where medical examination results indicated that she was carnally known,” said Daudi.
In court, the teacher pleaded guilty to the charge of defilement but reminded the court that he deserved court’s leniency for handing himself to the police.
However, prosecutor Mwase in his submission emphasized that the teacher goofed to play his leading role of protecting and shaping the future of the victim.
The prosecutor also indicated that the child was one of the brightest students when she enrolled to the school while in Standard six and eventually Lipenga’s demonic behavior affected her academically and her performance went down.
Senior Resident Magistrate Muhammad Chande recalled that the convict’s 15 year-old girl was sexually abused last year and she went through the same trauma hence concluded that the convict planned to avenge his grievances on someone’s child.
Lipenga hails from M’baluku village, Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota district.
