BY SYLVIA MWEETWA AND MUSONDA MANGALASHI –
THE Kitwe High Court has sentenced  a 53-year-old man to 17 years  imprisonment with hard labour for  defiling his 15-year-old  stepdaughter, describing his action as evil.
Ms  Justice Penjani  Lamba said it was shameful that the man could behave  in such a  manner  to  a  girl  who  was  fit  to  be  his daughter and that from the  records of the case it was clear  that the future  of the girl was destroyed.
This is in a case in which Bonaventure Phiri had sex with a girl below the age of 16 contrary to the laws of the land.
During trial, his wife narrated how she was awakened by screams of her daughter.
She told the court that when she went to check on the child she saw her husband leaving her bedroom while holding his pair of trousers.
She  said when asked  what he went  to do  in the children’s room Phiri did  not respond, and that she proceeded  to the room  where she found her daughter crying while holding her stomach and later saw blood oozing from her private parts.
And the girl said while sleeping, she felt something heavy on top of her before her mouth was covered and the convict had carnal knowledge of her.
She said she felt a lot of pain during the act and wondered why a person she regarded as a father acted in such a manner.
At the closure of the case,  Phiri denied the charge but the trial court convicted him and committed him to the High Court  for sentencing.
Passing judgment yesterday, Justice Lamba sentenced him to 17 years and that it was the court’s hope that he would use the time in custody to reflect on his actions.
In another matter, a 25-year-old mechanical engineer was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for raping a woman.
Justice Lamba sentenced Gaven Silwamba to 15 years for raping a woman on September 13, 2015 and strongly reprimanded him for his actions.
During trial  at the  subordinate court, the woman narrated in court that a few days  before the incident, Silwamba, who was  in the company of  three  other  men,  confronted  her and  asked  her if she was interested to be employed as a sales lady and that she would be paid K900 and K5 as transport money.
She said she willingly gave him her phone number and he later called her asking for a meeting so that they could conclude the issue of employing her.
She said when she arrived, Silwamba told her that he had forgotten the keys to his shop which he asked her to pick on his behalf but he followed her in the shop and closed the door.
She told the court that Silwamba dragged and pushed her on the mattress where she fell and wrestled with him before he finally raped her.