Mother withdraws case against MP Kaliati
Mother of a girl who Machinga Central member of Parliament (MP) Shaibu Kaliati (United Democratic Front-UDF) was accused of having an affair with has withdrawn the case against the legislator, police have confirmed.
National Police spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa, speaking in a telephone interview yesterday, said the mother of the girl who is believed to be an underage (name withheld) went to Lingadzi Police Sub-Station where her statement was recorded and withdrew the case against the legislator, saying the case should not continue.
He said: “The mother of the girl has made a withdrawal statement with police saying the case should be discontinued citing that she wants her daughter to concentrate on her education and that she does not want her daughter’s education to be affected by any case as such.”
But Gondwa said police will continue investigating the matter which is an alleged defilement case.
He said: “When a complaint was logged, police moved in to take the alleged victim to the hospital for medical examinations. A medical report from health professionals indicated that no defilement took place on the alleged day and that the girl was in her menstrual period on that particular day, a development which meant there was no evidence that the girl had been defiled.”
Gondwa said the arrest which police made on Kaliati when the alleged scandal took place about two weeks ago was to safeguard his life as the mother of the girl and her relations tried to take the law into their hands.
Kaliati’s own case came to light when Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya, on November 30, updated the National Assembly on the MP’s arrest who at that time was out on police bail.
In his announcement, the Speaker did not specify the crime the MP committed to find himself in police custody.
Msowoya said all he could brief the House was that the MP had been arrested and was on police bail at that time, a development which prompted Salima North West MP Jessie Kabwila (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) to ask the Speaker to provide more details on the arrest and Kaliati’s status in the House.
Without elaborating Kaliati’s alleged crime, Kabwila wondered why the MP who was part of the passing of the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill into law found himself contravening the same law.
But the Speaker maintained Kaliati was innocent until proven guilty before he asked Kabwila to seek more information from relevant authorities if she needed more details. n
If the alleged offence is criminal in nature, why is the mother intervening? The police should thoroughly investigate this case and it should be up to the prosecution services to decide whether to proceed with the case or not. The mother should not be allowed to break the law and as a guardian of a minor, she needs to be schooled that someone needs to prove to the courts that this pervert of an MP did not break the law.
We must protect our young girls from predatory behaviour of grown men who think that they have a right to abuse young, vulnerable and impressionable grils in our society. We must send a strong message that those who can not distinguish between children and grown up will be taught that lesson behind the confines of our dark prisons.