Man to spend 14 years in jail for defiling 10-year-old girl in Nkhotakota

40-year-old Lyson Mponda has been sentenced to a 14-year-old jail term by Nkhunga First Grade Magistrate Court in Nkhotakota after being found guilty of defiling a 10 year-old girl.

Prosecutor Micheas Chatsira told the court that the convict, a former employee of Guard World was on 9th April deployed to guard a sugar cane field close to a rice field where the victim and her siblings were also guarding against birds in their rice field.

He informed the court that the convict offered the children sugarcane and told minors to cut the sugarcane in turns, before taking the victim to a distance where he defiled her.

In court, the convict pleaded guilty to the charge and asked the court for leniency saying he does not understand what came over him.

While passing the sentence, First Grade Magistrate Kingsley Buleya agreed with the state on the need to impose a stiffer punishment and handed the convict a 14-year sentence to deter would-be offenders.