By Daniel Namwini, MANA
Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court Monday sentenced Shupi Mitambo, 25, to 12 years imprisonment with hard labour for beating up his two-year-old stepson for innocently mixing beans with nsima.
According to Lingadzi Police spokesperson, Salome Zgambo, the Court heard through State Prosecutor Inspector Grace Mafosha that on June 27, 2020 Mitambo wife prepared nsima served with beans for her husband and left it on the table to do other chores leaving the child inside the house.
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“When the husband entered into the house, he found that the child had mixed the nsima with the only remaining beans in the pot.
“This angered the accused who in return severely beat up the child,” Zgambo said.
Mafosha told the Court that Mitambo threatened his wife not to tell anyone about the incident, saying if she did so, he would also beat her up.
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The prosecutor told the Court that it was not the first time the accused had done such a barbaric act to the stepson. which is contrary to Section 235 (a) of the Penal Code.
Mafosha said that the accused used to beat up the victim and refused to take him to hospital, but rather rubbing the victim’s wounds with salt for fear of being arrested.
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“It took the effort of the landlord to report the matter to police seeing how the child was badly hurt. Apart from being beaten, the poor child was also scolded with hot water on his left leg,” she said.
he prosecutor asked the Court to give a stiffer punishment to deter other would-be offenders.
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Mitambo pleaded guilty and in mitigation, he told the Court that he realized his mistakes and that he had learnt a lesson.
He pleaded with the Court for leniency because he was the first offender and that he did not waste Court’s time.
First Grade Magistrate, Shyreen Chirwa said the accused’s act was not to teach and instill in the child some good manners but rather to kill.
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“A lot of children are facing different kinds of abuses by their step parents out there and the convict was supposed to protect the child without considering whether he is his biological child or not, hence I sentence him to 12 years IHL,” she said.
Mitambo, 25, hails from Ndaona Village in the area of Traditional Authority Dambo in Neno District.