Malawi court jails polygamist 9 years for marrying girl, 12

A Nkhunga First Grade Magistrate Court  in central region district of Nkhotakota has convicted  and sentenced  Branzil Mchimika, 22, to nine years Imprisonment with Hard Labour (IHL) for having sex act with a 12 year old girl  whom he took as a third wife..

Mchimika is a polygamist with two wives already.

According to Deputy Public Relations Officer for Nkhotakota Police, Paul Malimwe, the convict married the victim and arranged to go into hiding in Salima District.

“On their way, upon arriving at Benga, police arrested him following a tip from well-wishers,” he said.

Mchimika pleaded not guilty to the charges but police paraded three witnesses to prove their case after with the convict admitted to have committed the offence and pleaded for leniency saying he has two wives and many children.

Presiding over the case, First Grade Magistrate Kingsley Buleya said defilement is a serious offence in nature and attracts the maximum sentence of life imprisonment adding that these cases are common in Nkhotakota and around the country

“The perpetrators deserve stiff punishments as one way of reducing the malpractice,” he said.

Magistrate Buleya said the marriage of the two was unlawful because of the age of the girl slapping Mchimika with nines years IHL as a warning to all law offenders and as a way of reducing early marriages in the country.

Mchimika hails from Nthanje Village in the area of Senior Chief Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota.

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