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Police in Rumphi are investigating one of their officers who is alleged to have defiled a 12 year old girl in Livingstonia in the district.
Rumphi Police Station Officer, Senior Superintendent, Charles Mpezeni, confirmed the development in an interview with Malawi News Agency. He identified the policeman being investigated as Constable Clever Mtengerenji who is based at Livingstonia Police Unit.
Senior Superintendent, Mpezeni said police are treating the matter like any other criminal case after Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) expressed concern that the law enforcers were dragging investigations into the matter.
“We have opened the file on the matter and I have personally taken up the case. We are treating this case like any other even if the suspect involved is a policeman.
“We have already put the suspect under restriction. We want to get all facts correct to build a strong case,” he said.
Mpezeni said the suspect told police detectives that he had been in love affair with the girl and she had told him that she was 18.
However, the girl is also on the record to have told police that she was 15 years old contradicting her mother’s statement which said her daughter was twelve.
Whatever the case, the policeman could still be found on the wrong side of the law because despite the contradictions, the girl could be considered an under aged.
Life Concern Organization (LICO) Executive Director, Peter Gondwe told journalists that his organization received a complaint from the girl’s mother that her daughter had been defiled by a policeman and nothing has been done.
He said the girl’s mother lodged a complaint to his organization on Monday but by Thursday there were no serious investigations into the issue despite police recording a statement plus the medical report made available to them.
“After the incident had occurred the mother took all necessary steps like taking the victim to hospital where a medical report was issued and then reported the matter to police.
“She is concerned that despite receiving the complaint Police have done nothing to investigate the suspect. He is still free. She is concerned that police are playing delaying tactics so that the issue should just die out,” explained Gondwe.
He appealed to police to hasten investigations into the issue to avoid raising unnecessary suspicions of covering up a crime.
