Court Acquitts 21-Year-Old Ndola Pupil Of Defilement

THE Ndola Magistrate’s Court has acquitted a 21-year-old pupil of defiling a 13-year-old girl.
Magistrate Estone Kafunyi on Friday acquitted Chrispine Njovu of Kalusa farms in Ndola when the State failed to establish a prima facie case of defilement against him.
“I find that there are a lot of discrepancies and the prosecution has failed to prove their case….I accordingly set the accused at liberty,” Mr Kafunyi said. Particulars of the offence are that Njovu on March 21, 2012 in Ndola, did have unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16.
Mr Kafunyi said the girl’s parents did not take the matter seriously and only took their daughter to the hospital 10 days after the alleged defilement.
He said it is strange that the girl’s parents did not report the matter to the police immediately and that their lack of concern meant that the alleged defilement did not happen.
Mr Kafunyi said if the defilement occurred, Njovu did not commit the offence as there is no corroborating evidence against him.
He also said the age of the girl was not proved because the prosecution had failed to provide evidence.
“The age of the girl has not been proved despite the fact that she was born at a health centre within Ndola…. no effort was made by
the arresting officer to get a copy of the birth record to prove her age in court,” Mr Kafunyi said.