Enquiry team wants policeman prosecuted
By Macdonald Thom:
A multi-sectoral enquiry team which Malawi Police Service (MPS) Inspector General, Rodney Jose, instituted to investigate reports that a police officer raped a 14-year-old girl in Dowa District has recommended that the suspect should be charged with defilement.
The team comprised MPS, Malawi Human Rights Commission and Malawi Law Society officers.
In a statement released Wednesday, MPS spokesperson, James Kadadzera, says, apart from prosecuting the officer, the committee recommended that all police officers who were involved in the detention of the girl must be disciplined.
Kadadzera also says the enquiry team recommended that all concerned stakeholders, including the police and medical personnel, must, in all sexual offences, collect and preserve materials and samples that can be used for forensic DNA analysis.
“The Malawi Police Service, therefore, wishes to assure all Malawians that it is committed to pursuing this defilement case to its logical conclusion. The service will also ensure that human rights of all citizens are respected, protected and promoted in all circumstances,” the statement reads in part.
Kadadzera says the officer is still in police custody. He did not reveal his identity.
According to reports, the girl was defiled at Chisepo Police Unit during the night of October 4 2018.
Initially, it was alleged that the girl was defiled by a suspect who had escaped from police custody.
Later, reports emerged that the police officer allegedly defiled the girl, who law enforcers had detained for picking a fight at her school
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