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A 34-year-old man, Wellings Mponela, has been convicted and sentenced to 30 months Imprisonment with Hard Labour (IHL) for the offence of intimidation.
The Dowa First Grade Magistrate’s Court on Monday, through state prosecutor Sub Inspector Agnes Mphinga heard that the convict (Mponela), during the month of March 2021 at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in the district by word threatened a 30-year-old Ethiopian national, Yassin Mubarak, by telling him that if he fail to give him money amounting to K10 million, her daughter will be kidnapped.
The court further heard that the convict has been intimidating the victim using phone calls, texts and WhatsApp messages.
This prompted the victim to report the matter to police.
When the matter was reported to police, the victim was issued with a search warrant to go to Airtel to check the call logs, leading to the arrest of the convict.
Dowa Police Publicist, Gladson M’bumpha, said the convict pleaded not guilty to a charge of intimidation contrary to Section 88 of the Penal Code. This prompted the State to parade three witnesses, leading to his conviction.
Passing sentence, First Grade Magistrate Amran Phiri, concurred with the State’s submission for a stiff punishment hence sentencing the convict to 30 months imprisonment with hard labour as a warning to other would-be offenders.
MBC Online
