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Student teacher rescues girl from abuse

 

In a rare move of activism, a female student teacher in Ntchisi has exposed the alleged abuse of a 14-year-old girl by her uncle.

The teacher, Mervis Chawanda, noted that her Standard Six pupil at Kalema Primary School was behaving strangely.

When confronted, the girl admitted to have been defiled each time her aunt was away.

An artistic impression of a woman testifying in court
An artistic impression of a woman testifying in court

“The pupil was not concentrating. She was day dreaming every time she was in class. I suspected she had a problem. She revealed to me that her uncle was defiling her and that she was pregnant. I felt very angry about it,” said Chawanda in court on Tuesday when she testified against Allan Kudowa, the girl’s uncle.

She said she reported the issue to the school’s head teacher and women care group, but they both said they could not handle the matter for fear of the perpetrator.

She then took the issue up with a district based youth organisation and later went to Plan Malawi who helped her take the issue to police for intervention.

Chawanda said the girl was forced by her guardians to abort. They gave her some drugs to swallow and others to insert into her private parts.

The teacher said she is relieved the matter is in court, but is worried about the girl’s security staying in the same house.

Ntchisi Organisation for Youth and Development (Noyd) official Habil Kalumo, who has been helping Chawanda on the issue, said police and the organisation have agreed to repatriate the girl to her home in Mulanje where her parents live.

He said: “All this is happening while her parents are alive, but I am sure they are ignorant of their daughter’s plight here in Ntchisi. We wish she stayed with them for her safety. So, we are escorting her to Mulanje as she has already testified in court.” n

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