A 42-Year-Old man of Luano district in Central Province has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Kabwe High Court for defiling his 15-year-old stepdaughter. On May 13 last year, Simon Munkombwe, took advantage of his wife’s absence at home to molest the girl.
The court heard that on that day, Munkombwe grabbed his stepdaughter and pushed her on his bedroom in which he defiled her.

Delivering the jail sentence, Kabwe High Court Judge Kelvin Limbani told Munkombwe that he deserved to be punished for abusing his parental status to sexually abuse the girl.“It is sad that you defiled your 15-year-old stepdaughter. On the material day, you grabbed her and threw her on the bed and you defiled her,” Mr Justice Limbani noted.

Mr Justice Limbani said it is disappointing that Munkombwe took advantage of the absence of his wife to defile his stepdaughter. “The court wonders what enjoyment you got from the victim which you could not get from your wife,” he said. He said the offence of defilement carries a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence is 25 years imprisonment with hard labour.

He said the court has decided to slap the maximum 25-year sentence on Munkombwe so that it could serve as a warning to those that harbour thoughts of committing this crime. “I will accordingly sentence you to 25 years imprisonment. If you are not happy, you have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal,” he said.

Before his sentence, Mukombwe, through his lawyer Zombe Ponde of the Legal Aid Board, pleaded with the court to be lenient on him as he was the first offender. “He is deeply remorseful and he has indicated that during his time in custody, he reflected on his behaviour and he is asking for maximum leniency,” Ms Ponde said.

Mr Justice Limbani, however, said the offence Munkombwe committed was serious and that the court was on firm ground