Zambia: The police force of Chadiza district has arrested a 47-year-old Chadiza Council Tax Collector for defiling a 13-year-old girl. The offender has been identified as Fred Banda, and he will be presented in the high court for sentencing.
After the court hearing, Banda was found guilty of defiling a minor, whose identity has been withheld from the media for security purposes. The convict appeared before the Chadiza Magistrate court to answer for his actions.
Magistrate Fred Musaka said it had been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Banda did have carnal knowledge of a girl below the age of 16. Banda has since been remanded in police custody, waiting to be transferred to Chipata for his sentencing.
According to the official reports of the police officers, Banda raped a girl who was 13 years. The convict sexually assaulted the girl after giving her a K100 note and a drink.
The incident happened in the defendant’s house. Banda also paid K3000 to a medical officer in an attempt to alter a medical report. The medical practitioner has been identified as Mushaukwa Chimoga in Chadiza.
Constable Christine Banda, who was one of the investigating officers in the case, testified before the court. He read out some text messages between Banda and the family to the victim concerning the transaction.
Once the investigating officers realized that there was an alteration in the said medical report, they advised the girl’s relatives to seek a second opinion. The medical officer who investigat from another medical practitioner, Harrison Simbeye.
Dr Simbeye, a Senior Resident Medical Officer currently acting as District Health Director in Chadiza, told the court that after medical examinations were done on the victim, it was established that there was actual defilement on the minor.
“There are some features that are associated with someone that has been having sex for a long time, including black labia and black nipples, which I did not find in this girl,” he explained.
During the defence, Banda denied committing the act, stating that if he had defiled the girl, she would have been taken out of his house on a wheelbarrow.