The Ndola Magistrate Court has sentenced a step mother to five years imprisonment for assaulting an eight year old boy on his private parts.
Florence Lumunga, 23, a housewife of Mushili Township, was in this matter charged with one count of assault on a child.
On August 27, 2021 around 17:00 hours, Lumunga assaulted an 8-year-old step son on his private parts and his buttocks using a needle stick.
Ndola Magistrate Bryan Simachela found Lumunga guilty and convicted her accordingly.
Magistrate Simachela said that on the material day, Lumunga became annoyed at the boy and beat him on the private parts and buttocks which made the boy to sustain cuts and injuries on his private parts.
According to the prosecution’s evidence, the juvenile told court that on the material day, he knocked off early from school and for that reason, Lumunga, assaulted him using a needle stick and that she also scratched his scrotum.
Gift Kasongo, the juvenile’s mother, in her evidence, told court that on the material day, she received a call from the juvenile’s teacher that he was not reporting at school for some days.
Kasongo said that when she inquired why the child was not reporting at school for some days, she discovered that he had cuts and bruises on the private part as well as his buttocks
In her defense, Lumunga accepted to have bathed the boy on the material day but that she did not know what happened to the cuts and bruises which were found on the juvenile’s private parts.
However, Lumunga said that the boy instead injured himself.
But Magistrate Simachela said although the offense was assault, what mattered most was the age of the juvenile.
In mitigation, Lumunga who asked for forgiveness from the court said that she has one child and she was also pregnant.
However, Magistrate Simachela said the offence which Lumunga committed was a serious one and warned step mothers to be respecting children for their husbands.
He said that there was need to sentence the accused person to deter would be offenders.
“I have exercised my maximum lenience by sentencing you to five years simple imprisonment from the date of arrest. You have the right to appeal to the High Court within 14 days if you are not happy with the decision,” Magistrate Simachela said.
“This action was actually inhuman, barbaric, satanic and at last heartless.”
