A 28 year old man has been sentenced to 36 years imprisonment by with hard labor for indecently assaulting two girls.
Douglaous Chansa a fisherman was recently found guilty of the offence by the lower court and committed to the high court for sentencing
Particulars of the offence were that Chansa On 12th August 2013 in Mwansabombwe unlawfully and indecently assaulted the two girls aged 16 and 15 years respectively. During the trial one of the victims told the court that on the material day around 06:00 she and her friend went to collect cassava from the grandfathers field.
The Juvenile said on their way to the field they met Chansa working in his field. The assailant then followed the girls and found the girls harvesting cassava.
Chansa then accused the juveniles of harvesting from his field and asked them to pay failure to which they would go home naked or he would give them a beating.
The juvenile narrated that Chansa then took them to the graveyard where he asked them to take off their clothes, lie down and that he started touching their private parts.
In defense Chansa denied undressing the two girls and molesting them. “I just picked their belonging after I found them harvesting in my field and they ran away,” Chansa said.
But in passing the sentence, Judge Ngulube said Chansa assaulted the two girls leaving them traumatised and disturbed.
“I will therefore sentence you to 18 years imprisonment with hard labour on each count running concurrently. I have pursued the records from the lower court and I’m satisfied that the convictions were correct and appropriate in the Circumstances,’ said Justice Ngulube.