The Midima Senior Resident Magistrate court has sentenced a 21-year old man to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for raping a 4 year old girl.
The rapist has been identified as Yanjani Benjamin.
Limbe Police Station Deputy Public Relations Officer Widson Nhlane said the girl told her mother that she had been raped by Benjamin.
“Following the girl’s revelation, the mother reported the matter to village headman Chipagala who mobilised his subordinates to apprehend the rapist and later took him to Limbe Police Station,” he explained
When Benjamin appeared before court, he pleaded guilty to the charge of defilement.
In court, prosecutor Steve Mpira told the presiding magistrate Hussein Ibrahim to give the rapist a stiff punishment since the case is a serious one and attracts a maximum sentence life imprisonment.
In mitigation, the convict pleaded with the court to be lenient when passing the sentence because he looks after his mentally ill sister.
But the magistrate concurred with the state prosecutor hence giving the rapist a custodial sentence of 10 years with hard labour to act as a deterrent to would be offenders.
Yanjanani Benjamin hails from Chipagala village in Traditional Authority Machinjiri Blantyre.
