NKhotakota Council Employee to spend 14 years in jail for defiling and impregnating 15-year-old-girl

Elisa Mbalame, 36, an employee of Nkhotakota District Council, has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for defiling and impregnating a 15-year-old girl in Nkhotakota District.

Prosecutor Mussa Samuteni told the Nkhunga First Grade Magistrate’s Court that Mbalame, a market cleaner employed by the council, had been engaging in sexual intercourse with the minor in market toilets, mostly when she went there to sell vegetables after school.

The offence came to light after the girl’s mother noticed changes in her appearance and had her take a pregnancy test, which returned positive. In court, Mbalame pleaded guilty, prompting Samuteni to ask for a stiff sentence, arguing that the offender had not only impregnated the minor but also risked ruining her future.

First Grade Magistrate Kingsley Buleya found Mbalame, of Ng’omayacheza Village under Traditional Authority Mwansambo in Nkhotakota, guilty as charged.