Wed, 31 Jan 2018 10:25:14 +0000
By JUSTINA MULENGA
THE Lusaka Magistrates Court has found Zambia Association of Musicians president, Njoya Tembo’s wife, Brenda, guilty of burning her juvenile niece with a pressing iron on her chest.
The court yesterday found Brenda guilty of child assault of her niece who is a girl under the age of sixteen.
When the matter came up for judgement before Magistrate Greenwell Malumani, Brenda was however not present in court as she was remanded in custody after her police bond expired.
It was alleged that Brenda had been mistreating her niece and on one accession spunked her with a cooking stick on her back before burning her with a pressing iron.
According to evidence from one of the state witnesses, during trial, an arresting officer, Elizabeth Nambela, testified that she decided to arrest Brenda on a charge of assault of the child after interviewing and examining the complainant in light of the medical report issued and signed on November 9th, 2016 and November 11th, 2016 respectively.
She said she saw the scars of the wounds on the hands but did not see the blister on the chest as she saw the victim two weeks after the incident.
And according to another witness, a teacher at Woodlands B primary school, on October 26th 2016, the juvenile went to school with swollen hands and a reddish blister on the chest saying she was burnt by her aunt who was angered by the girl ‘s using of an iron which the couple had stopped using.
During Brenda’s defense, the state produced a medical report indicating that the victim had injuries which she disputed and said she did not believe the report.
However, magistrate Malumani said there was no ill motive of the accused to be implicated by her niece who she had taken responsibility of since she was two years old after the demise of her parents.
And during mitigation, Brenda’s lawyer asked the court’s leniency in passing sentence saying she had no criminal record and was the first offender. She will be sentenced today.
