Dad gets 30 years for defiling daughter

The KASAMA High Court has handed down a 30-year sentence to a man of Mporokoso District for repeatedly defiling his daughter on the pretext that he wanted to be the first man to have carnal knowledge of her.
Justice Petronella Ngulube said the convict, Edward Kambone’s actions were “pure evil and an affront to the values of society.”
Particulars of the offence were that Kambone between September 1 and October 25, 2013 had carnal knowledge of his daughter who was 14 years old at the time.

Kambone, who denied the charge, was tried and convicted by a lower court before his committal to the High Court for sentencing.
Ms Justice Ngulube reviewed the proceedings of the lower court and analysed the evidence, which included that of the victim.
Her testimony was that her father picked her up from church and asked her to follow him home.
On their way home, Kambone made a detour into the bush where pushed her down, took off her underwear and had sex with her.
In pain, the girl shouted for help and a woman identified in court only as ‘bana Brenda’ came to her rescue.
She also testified that her father had been having sexual intercourse with her over a period of time, which had forced her to run away from home.
Anne Kalima, 37, whose house she ran to, testified that the victim refused to go back home because her father was having sex with her.

When Kambone went to collect her, Ms Kalima refused to hand over the girl, prompting him to report the matter to the village headman.
He was instead apprehended by the community crime prevention unit as the issue had already been reported to them.
While Legal Aid lawyer Keith Katazao urged the court to acquit his client because the victim’s evidence was not corroborated, State advocate Cassandra Soko said there was no evidence on record to suggest why the victim would want to falsely implicate her father and that the relationship between Kambone and his daughter was an aggravating factor.
Ms Justice Ngulube said after perusing the record, she had found that the conviction was appropriate and there was overwhelming evidence against the accused.

“The identity of the offender, her biological father, is not in dispute. Her testimony of how he fetched her from church and took her to the bush where he had unlawful carnal knowledge of her is very clear,” Ms Justice Ngulube said.
“In passing sentence, I have noted the submissions of the learned defence counsel that the convict is a first offender who is remorseful. However, the convict defiled his own daughter, which is an affront to the values of society.”

Times of Zambia