The Kabwe Magistrate Court has acquitted a Ndola based soldier who is allegedly to have stabbed a woman’s private parts using a bayonet after she refused him sex amid an outcry by the victim and sympathizer’s describing it as another injustice for the women folk in the country.
The woman who was stabbed openly wept outside court as sympathizers attempted to console her while others were shaking their heads in disbelief as the accused person confidently walked out of court.
This is in a case in which Thabo Situmbeko aged 29, of Tug-argan Military Barracks in Ndola was appearing in court for two counts of attempted rape contrary to section 134 of the penal code and attempted to have unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman without consent.
In a second count Situmbeko is charged with unlawful wounding contrary to section 232 of the penal code of the Laws of Zambia of which he denied.
Facts before the court are that on February 9, 2012 Situmbeko is allegedly to have stabbed the woman’s private parts using a bayonet (blade that can be fitted to a rifle) after she allegedly refused to have sex with him.
Immediately after Magistrate Smart Mweene declared the accused person with no case to both of the counts and acquitted him, the victim walked out of count accompanied by women movement groups as she wept openly.
[pullquote]the doctor had testified that he observed that the inside part of the vagina had been cut and that the wounds were life threatening and that if she was not taken to the hospital on time she would have died.[/pullquote]
Mr Mweene acquitted the accused person on grounds that the prosecution team had failed to prove the case.In his ruling the court said after listening to witnesses from the prosecution team he had found no evidence to find the accused with a case to answer and cited the evidence during trial by Dr Anaclet Tshimpanga from Kabwe Mine hospital who testified that he recalled treating the victim and that the wound was caused by an instrument which was not sharp but blunt and that was carefully directed inside which was contrary to the evidence by the victim.
“I have seriously considered evidence from the prosecution team and I have no case to answer in both counts and acquit him, ”he said.
And outside court the victim openly weep as the women movement could not give an immediate comment but described the acquittal as shocking.
Recently there was drammer outside the Kabwe Magistrate Court after the victim confronted a doctor whom she accused of not telling the court the truth after he testified that the instrument used was not sharp by blunt.
After the doctor finished testifying and walked out of court, the victim confronted the Dr Tshimpanga as she sobbed openly and asked the Doctor if she should undress for him to see properly the injuries.
But during examination in Chief by state prosecutor Jonathan Kazunga the doctor had testified that he observed that the inside part of the vagina had been cut and that the wounds were life threatening and that if she was not taken to the hospital on time she would have died.
During the hearing the victim testified that February 8, 2012 she went to watch a football march between Zambia and Ghana at Kaunda bar in Chindwin Barracks and where she found her friend, Amoxana and her boyfriend, a Mr Mukanzo.
“Your honour we were later joined by a man identified as Situmbeko and we continued drinking together. Later my friend Amoxana got drunk and that’s how she and the boyfriend left and I remained with Situmbeko.
But at about 23:00 hours Situmbeko suggested that we leave the bar because alcohol they were taking had finished, ” she said.
She testified that since she had a baby, she told Situmbeko that she could not go to another bar as it was late, but Situmbeko asked her to
leave her baby with the neighbours.She said as she was walking, Situmbeko, who was following her, hit her from behind and when she turned to ask him why he had hit her, he grabbed the baby from her back and threw it into a shallow ditch full of water and pushed her to the ground.
She said he then pulled down her pants together with her skirt but as she was struggling with him, he produced a sharp object and stabbed
her in her private parts.
Another witness Kweto Chimba told the court that he was shocked to see blooding oozing through down her legs and that looked to be in pain.
He narrated that he assisted in locating the staff sergeant at who was on the fateful night reportedly to have been with the accused person and later escorted the complainant to the police post where the matter was reported.
Ifima ********** ko, to that judge who released a criminal plus my Huge middle finger in your B***T!
Sad development.Thats genital mutilation the chap ought to be caged.
Sick bastard!!!!
She asked for it.What was she doing with a stranger at 23hrs?Her staying behind after her friend left, was signal enough for soldier boy.You reaped what you sowed.
mmmmm!! I can shoot that man to death in the presence of the of the judge. This is so much unfair!
Blood rushing to the wrong organ instead of the brain.
Burden of proof was not met.For a conviction, a case must be proven ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. The judge did not dispute that the woman was injured and the doctor testified accordingly. But the prosecutors failed to prove beyond doubt that it was Situmbeko who injured her. Identification was the issue.Read full verdict. Dont blame the judge, blame the inept prosecutor…
Precedence has been created in the Zambian courts again. The judiciary at its best.
whether instrument used was blunt or sharp it is still a crime. that soldier should have been punished for endangering that woman instead of protecting that woman. This country is just going to the DOGS now!
why did she agree to go into a room with him..?
What room man they where outside did you miss out on comprehension at school
What do you expect of corrupt judges and a nation fulll of witch doctors who are handing out flyers for people with court cases to consult? Justice denied here.
Honestly bloggers, if a bayonet was used to wound our sister, a knife cuts wherever it passes. I want to agree with the doctor, that the injury caused was with a blunt object. It is possible the woman is trying to fix the guy and it is also possible that the two had sex and maybe the man did not pay her well or he could have raped her. So in revenging, she used a blunt indtrument and injured herself to fix the guy. Such things tend to surface easily and the woman should come out clean on what really happened. The soldier could be guilty for rape but is not guilty for stabbing her. Let the pipo judge the soldier.
You could be right Makai. A bayonet is in itself a knife of up to a foot long. How possible is it that the soldier managed to utilize it on the most hidden part of a woman? I would have expected the woman in question to put up resistance, especially that they were outside. Someone is hiding the truth here.
Any sensible woman cannot be out of her home at that awkward time of the night. What do you expect to happen when you are with a stranger after drinking beer at that time of the night!! Ayo emalibu yakuilombela!!!! Women movements should be advising their women folks correctly. At that awkward time with the baby drinking beer, woman you must be mwalwa nabanga. But Am not in support of what the young man did.
Some of these old men in our courts are a disgrace; they are as money loving as Daniel Munkombwe
The prosecutor was my school mate kabwe secondary
Judges base their judgement on the evidence presented before them. Remember, one should be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge is not the one to blame, the person who was key to the case was the doctor who did not do what he was suposed to do. Even before the case was conluded the victim had knowledge of the consequencies of the evidence the doctor had given.
How come a soldier was allowed to carry a weapon in a tavern? A bayonet is always a sharp weapon because of what it is made of. How come the doctor testified that the instrument was blunt? The evidence from the prosecution had a lot of questions. This was a criminal cause where the prosecution needs to prove beyond reasonable doubt. Even as a layman the evidence is not wholly admissable. You can not use preponderance of probabilities in a criminal matter. That is for a civil case. I do not blame the judge but the prosecution.
Do you all want to be judges now. al you want to hear is the person jailed even without evidence.Good judge, no prejudise like other *****s
As far as we know there is enough evidence that he did it. Would she then stab herself? Screw you #16!
Whatever your name, the object used was blunt and noot sharp. the woman claims the man used a bayonet which is a sharp object. Clearly, there is lack of evidence. The woman could have been raped but she did not say so, what she said is she was bayoneted which is not true and case closed.
Smart Mweene is too corrupt thats why he was tranfered to kabwe from ndola. the man stinks of corruption
Women have become lies in society.They just want to reap where they did not plant.We men are aware of wat some girls/ladies are doing.
We have been victims of being stolen huge sums of money and in the end we just let go such and it has become a common thing.Am sure this Hure was lying.
Nice judgement!!
Rotten judicial system. Absolutely rotten to the core! Sane people should rise up againist this injustice!
drammer or drama
Miscarriage of justice, without any doubt, via evidence of doctor that came to stay!
That is what you get for being a drunkard. Be born again. The woman was very irresponsible. What do you expect if you arouse a man?
That is how it goes if the prosecution fails to tie all the threads of the case! But i strongly suspect the cops spoilt the case which would have been a good one! You can not blame the magistrate because he based his judgement on the useless evidence adduced by the prosecution which did not connect the accused person! He is a free man!
Awe kwena kuti wapapa ifintu fimo.
While I do not support violence against women, the woman involved in this case is a prostitute who changed her mind after drinking the Army Officer’s beers. The impression was for her to pay back in kind which she later wanted to refuse!
WhatWho,
All bad things in life shall follow you till the day you die…unless you were not born of a woman! How would you feel if the such a thing happened to you own daughter ????
And what would your daughter be doing at that time of the night with her baby? What happened is regretable, but some of these can be avoided. The soldier also should control his sexual desires. There must be better ways of settling differences with an unwilling sexual partner than stabbing her, and of all places, in her private part! The prosecutors performance speaks volumes of the skills and capabilities in our prosecution teams. Take them for refresher courses!!
This poor woman has been maimed for life!!!! Show some humanity people !!!! This could happen to your own female relatives e.g daughter, sister, aunt, mother, grandmother, cousin etc. Would you say the same things you are saying now??? Especially iwe number 6 (WhatWho) ??????????
If the Ministry of Social Welfare does exist & is reading this. May they in the soonest possible tym charger this woman for Child negligence. So painful & my heart is bleeding to read that a normal woman wud be in a bar at 23hrs yet her child doesn’t know the where about of sweet mum. Woman!Try to do such stupidity in Europe…
ya am mauless. difficult to know whose right & wrong.
In this case mob justice would have been better. Just because the object was blunt does not mean that, that ***** son of a gun is innocent.
buchilende bwabanakashi tabwakapwe, how do you go in pub at that late hour, worse still remain drinking with a stranger. Infact situmbeko was generous, she must ve drank money off him without rendering necessary services. Men dont allow women to milk you for nothing. the judge did a 100% perfect job.
If someone buys you drinks, you are not entering a contract with them. @26, I’m sure you’ve been bought drinks before; if the person who bought them then demanded sex, would you have had the right to refuse? And @23, it doesn’t matter who is aroused, no one has the right to demand sex from another just because they are aroused. Go and take a cold shower if you are refused! Or divorce the person if you are married to them. People are not entitled to sex because they give you something, and anyway, prostitution is illegal (although I don’t see any evidence that that was going on). So there was no breach of contract, because there was no contract!
IF YOU ARE A LADY I WANT TO WARN YOU. NEVER ENTER A NIGHT CLUB AND ACCEPT EVERY OFFER OF DRINKS CARELESSLY FROM MEN. YOU WILL END UP LIKE THIS WOMAN. THE MEN WHO DO THESE THINGS HAVE NO TIME TO START REASONING WITH YOU. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.
Ndeloleshafye….
VERY SAD. HOPE SHE HAS HEALED AND WILL BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY ENJOY DWINYA AGAIN. HOPE ALSO THAT THE BABY WAS NOT INJURED. KEEP AWAY FROM BARRACKS IN FUTURE.
THIS LADY HAD A BABY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, IN A NIGHT CLUB. THE FATHER OF THAT BABAY IS NOT EVEN MENTIONED ANYWHERE HERE. WILL I BE WRONG TO CONCLUDE THAT THIS WOMAN IS IN THE HABIT OF MOTHERING BABBIES OF UNKNOWN FATHERS? CONSEQUENTLY SHE FINDS HERSELF IN THIS SITUATION.
Very stupid incompetent gender violence supporting judge.
don’t ever cheat a soldier.When the baby was in water why didn’t it die?
This story is too nice to be true. The baby definetly should have died or hospitalisedor treated but nothing happened to the baby. This woman is a liar.
If your evidence is messed up what do you expect a magistrate to do? They go with evidence no emotional vigilantism. Justice will follow this sick soldier. Remember OJ Simpson.
Today, I went to the beach front with our kids. I observed a sea shell and also gave the idea to my personal 4 yr old child and said You can hear the actual ocean if you put this in your ear. She inserted the shell to your ex ear along with screamed. There had been a hermit crab inside plus it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I am aware this seemingly off topic but I’d to inform someone!