Chipata businessman acquitted of defilement

MAYENGO NYIRENDA Chipata A 37-YEAR-OLD Chipata businessman from Chipata Motel Township, who was accused of defiling his 13-year-old dependant, has been acquitted of both counts due to defects in the victim’s under-five clinic card. Chomba Chimfwembe allegedly sexually abused…

MAYENGO NYIRENDA

Chipata

A 37-YEAR-OLD Chipata businessman from Chipata Motel Township, who was accused of defiling his 13-year-old dependant, has been acquitted of both counts due to defects in the victim’s under-five clinic card.

Chomba Chimfwembe allegedly sexually abused his dependant while his wife was away in Lusaka delivering a baby.

He denied both counts of defilement and accused his wife of implicating him in the offence before Chipata senior resident magistrate Destiny Kalusopa.

During his defence, Chimfwembe claimed that his wife had framed him because of ongoing marital disputes.

He also submitted two mobile phones containing WhatsApp conversations with his wife to aid his defence.

The State called several witnesses, including his wife, Regina Tembo, and the victim, who both testified.

According to the victim’s testimony, on a Friday in April 2026, the accused sent the maid to the market to buy cassava mealie meal, leaving her alone with him.

While they were together, Chimfwembe allegedly closed the window curtains and the house door and asked her to follow him into the bedroom so that she could massage his feet.

The victim followed the accused into the bedroom, but when she was about to start massaging him, he allegedly asked her to remove her clothes.

Ms Tembo, a pharmacist, testified that upon returning from Lusaka after giving birth, she noticed behavioural changes in her dependant.

She said the girl had started locking her bedroom door at night despite sharing the room with another child.

“In our conversation, she opened up and told me my husband had defiled her,” Ms Tembo told the court.

She explained that before leaving for Lusaka, she had left the victim and another child in Katete with her elder sister, but her husband later retrieved them before her return to Chipata.

Following the revelation, she informed her sister and later notified the victim’s uncle. During cross-examination, Ms Tembo denied the defence’s claim that she was falsely implicating her husband to gain sole control of his property.

The victim also testified that she had been sexually abused twice by Chimfwembe.

An arresting officer from Chipata Central Police Station, Jerry Mwanza, confirmed that he subjected the victim to a medical examination at Chipata Central Hospital, and the results were consistent with the claims.

He also told the court that the victim showed him two rooms in the house where she was allegedly defiled.

Delivering judgment on Thursday last week, magistrate Kalusopa acquitted Chimfwembe on both counts and set him free, citing uncorroborated evidence.

Magistrate Kalusopa said the victim’s age had not been strictly proved by the prosecution witnesses because of a defective under-five clinic card that had been submitted as evidence.

He said there was also no corroboration of the victim’s evidence regarding the identity of the offender to rule out the possibility of false implication.

“Further, the evidence by the prosecution witnesses was hearsay, and they had an interest to serve. Moreover, there was dereliction on the part of the investigative officer in his duties, as the investigations were not diligently carried out,” magistrate Kalusopa said. https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home