The Kabwe Magistrate Court has adjourned to November 5, 2025, the case in which a 35-year-old witchdoctor is facing charges of child stealing, pending a trial within trial.
This is in the matter of The People vs. Benson Zulu, who stands charged with child stealing contrary to Section 171(a) of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
According to court records, Benson Zulu is alleged to have stolen his two-year-old stepdaughter, sometime in September 2018 in Kabwe District. The child, biological daughter of Gertrude Malambo, was reportedly in Zulu’s custody at the time, as her stepfather.
When the matter came up for continuation of trial before Resident Magistrate Gloria Chipasha, the State called two witnesses to testify.
The first witness, Ackim Katapazi, a 32-year-old security guard of Lusaka, told the court that he once lived with the accused in Kabwe’s Makandanyama area.
He testified that in 2022, he received information that Zulu was on the run after allegedly stealing his stepdaughter.
“On November 20, 2022, I spotted Zulu in Lusaka’s 4 Miles area,” said Katapazi. “I apprehended him and handed him over to Kasanda Police Station.”
The second witness, Detective Inspector Peter Chilembo, a crime scene technician, told the court that the accused allegedly led him to the location where the victim had been dumped.
Inspector Chilembo submitted a photo album containing images of Zulu at various sites, including the home he had lived in and the place where he is believed to have abandoned the child.
However, during cross-examination, Zulu denied voluntarily leading police to the scene.
He claimed that officers forcibly took him there and coerced him to cooperate.
“I never showed the police the scene voluntarily,” Zulu said. “They forced me to point at places for the sake of taking photographs.”
He further alleged that the police directed him to pose at those locations despite his insistence that he was not involved in the crime.
It was revealed that Zulu had previously been convicted by the subordinate court in 2022 and the case was committed to the High Court for sentencing. However, the High Court ordered a re-trial before a different magistrate, leading to the current proceedings.
Magistrate Chipasha has since adjourned the matter to November 5, 2025, for a trial within trial, a legal process intended to determine the admissibility of certain evidence — in this case, the accused’s alleged confession and cooperation with the police.
