Court convicts father for incest with 5-month-old baby

Sat, 26 Nov 2016 13:51:16 +0000

LUSAKA Magistrate has convicted a 43-year-old Kamanga Compound father for incest after he was found guilty of defiling his five months daughter. Magistrate Muzambalika Simachela said there was strong circumstantial evidence against Kennedy Kaunda Kabaso, who would be sentenced to not less than 20 years in jail, because there was no other man in the vicinity from the previous day to the time the baby was discovered defiled.

He said the prosecution had proved an overwhelming case of incest against the child’s own father. “The prosecution have proved the case of incest against the accused as overwhelming. I now find the accused guilty as charged and I convict him accordingly,” Magistrate Simachela stated. This was in a judgment delivered on Thursday 24th November, 2016 at the Lusaka Magistrate Courts Complex, which charge carries a sentence of not less than 20 years imprisonment.

Details of the case were that sometime in February 2016, when the child’s mother was very sick and bed ridden, Kabaso used to take care of the child whenever he was at home, or was helped by a “good samaritan” neighbour who would also look after its mother. The court heard that the father used to assist change the nappies for the five months old baby girl as the mother was very sick, and could barely turn in bed. The mother explained that on the date of the crime, Kabaso got the child from the neighbour’s care the whole day and only returned home at night, and thereafter, the child cried uncontrollably. She said when she inquired on the child’s desperate cries, Kabaso contended that the child would eventually sleep with the light off, and refused to switch on the light, and the mother remained helpless as she could not get up to check and care for the child.

She further explained that in the morning after the father had left, the neighbour came in and collected the child for her bath, and that was when it was discovered that the baby had a cut on her private parts, and that there was some reddish discharge coming out. And according to the medical report issued from the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), the child suffered labia injury and acute bleeding among other cuts as a result of the attack. The case has since been committed to the Lusaka High Court for sentencing.