By FRANCINA PHIRI, RABECCA CHIPANTA and STEVEN ZANDE –
A 35-YEAR-OLD male nurse of St Paul’s Mission Hospital in Nchelenge has been jailed 15 years with hard labour for raping a 17-year-old patient after injecting her with a drug to put her to sleep.
Joseph Kabaso had earlier been convicted by the subordinate court, with the sentencing left to the Mansa High court where Mr Justice Davis Mumba handed down the jail term after upholding the conviction by the subordinate court.
He told Kabaso, who committed the offence on July 18 this year, he had betrayed the confidence and trust of someone whose health and life he had been entrusted with.
“The victim was brought to St Paul’s Mission Hospital with a problem of abdominal pains when you decided to have carnal knowledge of her in the treatment room after injecting her with sleeping medicine. You have betrayed the confidence and trust of looking after patients,” Mr Justice Mumba said.
Mr Justice Mumba stated that it was so inhuman of Kabaso to have taken advantage of the girl who came to seek medical treatment.
In mitigation, the convict pleaded for maximum lenience as he was the first offender.
Luapula Province Minister Nickson Chilangwa described the sentencing as a severe deterrent for others taking care of patients to take note.
Mr Chilangwa said the medical field was a noble profession which people needed to uphold with high standards of ethics and integrity.
“This is the first offence we have recorded in this province and it should be a warning to would-be offenders to realise that the medical field is a noble profession and such acts will not go unpunished,” he said.
The Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ) also condemned the conduct of the convict and hailed the sentencing.
HWUZ general secretary Lewis Mukosha said raping a patient was an extreme case of indiscipline by a health worker and that Kabaso deserved to be punished.
“We are always preaching ethical conduct among health workers. Those who misbehave must be punished in line with the disciplinary code of conduct,” Mr Mukosha said.
He said in an interview yesterday that members of the health profession should refrain from any form of misconduct which placed the profession into disrepute.
Mr Mukosha said the union would continue conducting induction meetings for fresh entrants into the medical field with a view to helping promote ethical practice among health workers.