Rumphi chief to serve 12 years for defilement
Village head Kapindamlonga, real name Benson Mkandawire, will serve 12 years imprisonment for defiling a 12-year-old girl.
The Rumphi First Grade Magistrate’s Court, sitting at Luhono Primary School, on Tuesday found the village head, 33, guilty contrary to Section 138 of the Penal Code.
Rumphi Police Station spokesperson Tupeliwe Kabwilo said Mkandawire in July 2017 went to the victim’s mother who is his sister in-law and requested her to fetch water for him since his expectant wife was in hospital.
The mother ordered her daughter to fetch water for the chief who later defiled her.
The convict warned the victim never to reveal the ordeal to anyone, saying she would go mad. Later the victim told her friends who alerted family members.
When the family members and village elders called on the convict to ask him about the issue, he admitted to have defiled the girl and begged for mercy. He promised to pay K100 000 but parents of the victim’s family refused.
The matter was reported to Bolero Police Unit and medical tests at Bolero Health Centre confirmed defilement.
State prosecutor Maurice Chimseu said the chief should have been championing child protection but he did the contrary.
“The chief’s arrest should serve as a lesson to everyone, whether in authority or not, to desist from the malpractice,” he said.
Mkandawire comes from Kapindamlonga Village, Traditional Authority Chikulamayembe in Rumphi. n
