Man sentenced 25 years with hard labour for incest

High Court judge Petronella Ngulube last Friday jailed Steward Lilundu after upholding his conviction by the subordinate court.
Lilundu pleaded guilty to having sex with his 13-year-old niece.
“I have perused the record from the court below and I am satisfied that the conviction was appropriate,” Mrs Justice Ngulube said.
It was alleged that Lilundu on December 2 last year in Mpongwe, had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl who to his knowledge is his niece.
Facts before the court are that on December 2 last year, Lilundu asked the girl to escort him to collect some tomatoes from his mother’s house.
The court heard that on their way, Lilundu pushed the girl and she fell before tearing her underwear and defiling her.
“She called for help but no one came to her rescue and Lilundu beat her up,” the facts read in part.
She narrated the incident to her cousin and the matter was subsequently reported to the police.
Mrs Justice Ngulube convicted Lilundu on his own unequivocal plea of guilty
She said she had taken Lilundu’s mitigation into consideration but that he had sex with his own niece.
“I find that there was a breach of trust on the part of the convict who knew very well that the child was his niece but still forced himself to have sexual intercourse with her,” Mrs Justice Ngulube said.
She also said there is evidence that when the child tried to resist, Lilundu beat her up, which she described as a brutal act.
In mitigation, Lilundu said he is married with a child and he is remorseful for his actions.

Zambia Daily Mail