The case in which a six-month pregnant woman of Mkushi accused a male nurse at Chitina Rural Health Centre of raping her during an antenatal session is on the verge of being closed by the police due to lack of evidence. The police are considering closing the case because of insufficient evidence against the alleged rapist. Nicomed Banda allegedly raped a 31-year-old woman in August this year when she went for antenatal.

Central Province commissioner of police Joel Njase said in an interview yesterday that without evidence, it becomes difficult to prove a rape case in court. “We will be closing the docket soon because the medical results indicated negative. So, without evidence, it becomes difficult to prove that she was raped because it could be consensual sex,” he said.

He said police have noted some inconsistencies in the statements the victim and her husband presented before it with regard to the alleged incident. Mr Njase said the police might advise the husband of the victim to file a civil suit because in terms of crime, law ingredients for rape have not been met. “For rape, you have to prove that someone was raped but the husband just stood by [when the male nurse was raping the wife], there was no shouting [from the victim] and when she came out, they just walked as if nothing had happened,” Mr Njase said.

The husband had escorted the victim to the health centre. And two out of the 18 suspected Tokota Boys accused of kidnapping, acts intended to cause grievous harm and poisoning have told the court that they were not present at the time the alleged crimes were taking place. Testifying before Kitwe High Court judge-in-charge Timothy Katanekwa yesterday, David Kateta, 20, of Ndeke township in Kitwe, told the court that he was at home baby-sitting his nephew on the day the alleged crimes took place. Kateta said his sister, Catherine, had asked him to baby-sit her son on the fateful afternoon.

It is alleged that the three offences were committed on April 30 this year in Kitwe. And another accused, Lucky Mwaba, 18, said he was in Chingola on April 30 this year when the alleged crimes were committed. He said he only returned to Kitwe on May 9, only to be arrested by the community crime prevention officers for allegedly being a stubborn child. Mwaba said at the identification parade, the victim only pointed at people with black number tags without even looking at their faces.