Ombudsman joins the case of sexually harassed woman in Limbe

The Office of the Ombudsman has intervened in the case where a mentally disturbed woman was stripped naked in broad daylight in Limbe and some men took advantage of her by molesting her.

In an interview with the Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Monday Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Office of the Ombudsman Arthur Semba said their office has intervened in the case calling on the police to quicken its investigations and Zomba Mental Hospital to look into the woman’s health issues.

“We have intervened on the case because the woman’s human rights were abused and all the accused persons who were arrested were given bail by the police.

“In addition to that the woman is mentally ill and is not taking drugs because there were no drugs at Zomba Mental Hospital,” said Samba.

According to Semba, the woman has been sexually abused on a number of occasions with men taking advantage of her unstable mental condition.

“The Office of Ombudsman has demanded that Zomba Mental Hospital starts giving the woman drugs and also find suitable drugs for her because she can easily skip the drugs which are in tablets.

“Moreover, we are also demanding the police to make sure that the case goes to court in time,” said Semba adding that, the Office of the Ombudsman will continue monitoring the progress of the treatment of the woman at Mental Hospital and also the prosecution of the criminal cases.

The story of the woman was all over social media last month with the Ministry of Gender, and Women Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC) condemning the incident.