Man jailed 35 with hard labour for defiling 5-year-old

THE Ndola High Court has slapped a 35-year jail sentence with hard labour on a 30-year-old man of Chipulukusu township for defiling his neighbour’s five-year-old daughter.
Acting Ndola High Court judge-in- charge Isaac Chali on Monday upheld the conviction of Emmanuel Mwansa of house number CH47/1 by the subordinate court.
Mwansa admitted the charge and told the subordinate court that he believed that the girl was five years old

“I have perused the said statement of facts and I am satisfied that it contains all the elements of the offence charged. The same is also supported by the medical report which was tendered as part of evidence showing that the girl had been defiled.
“In the circumstances the conviction by the lower court is upheld as supported by the evidence on record as well as the accused’s own admission of the offence. I, therefore, sentence the accused to 35 years imprisonment with hard labour with effect from December 26, 2013, the date on which he was arrested,” Mr Justice Chali said.
He wondered why Mwansa defiled a five-year-old girl when there are many women around.
“I am saddened at the fact that men have resorted to sexually abusing children when women are all over such that one can easily find one for himself,” Mr Justice Chali said
Particulars of the offence are that Mwansa, on December 16 last year in Ndola, had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16.
In mitigation, Mwansa asked the court for leniency because he had learnt valuable lessons during his incarceration.
Facts before court were that on the fateful day around 12.00 hours, the girl was at home with her elder sister and their friends while their mother had gone to plait her hair at a friend’s house.
The court heard that Mwansa went to the girl’s house and took her to his house on the pretext that he wanted her to help him fetch some water.
The court heard that the girl’s elder sister became suspicious and followed Mwansa to his house.
The court heard that the girl’s elder sister straight entered Mwansa’s house and caught him red-handed defiling her younger sister.
The court heard that the girl then went to the house where her mother was plaiting her hair from and informed her about the incident.
The court heard that the woman immediately went to Mwansa’s house to see what had happened and he could not justify his actions.
The woman reported the matter to the police and Mwansa voluntarily admitted the charge under warn-and- caution.
“He was then arrested and charged with the subject offence,” the facts read in part.

Daily Mail