The Chisamba Magistrate’s Court has set December 9, as a date for judgment in a case in which a 53-year-old man is accused of having defiled his 8-year-old stepdaughter and another 10-year-old girl.
Charles Luo of Kwando village in chief Chamuka’s area, appeared for defense before Resident Magistrate Suzen Magalashi, after he earlier entered a plea of not guilty.
Luo faces two counts of defilement, contrary to Section 138 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.
In count one and two, it is alleged that between August 1 and October 2 this year, the accused had carnal knowledge of two girls under the age of 16 years.
Ten prosecution witnesses, including the victims, gave testimonies during the trial before the state closed its case.
Luo is alleged to have defiled two children on separate occasions. In one instance, one of the victims allegedly watched him through a window while he was defiling his step-daughter who had been sent to borrow an axe.
And the 10-year old victim, who reported the ordeal to her class teacher, was allegedly defiled by the same man after she was sent to borrow a pair of pliers on another unknown date.
According to court records, the 10-year-old victim had initially escorted her 8-year-old friend, who is a step-child of the accused, saw him through the window defiling her friend on an unknown date.
The girl testified that the accused pounced on her a few days later when she was sent to borrow a pair of pliers from him.
During the trial, two medical reports, two affidavits, two school registers for the victims, and a single mattress associated with the accused and the location where the sexual abuse allegedly occurred were entered apart of evidence.
When the matter came up for ruling, the court ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case, placing the accused on his defense.
The accused, Luo, called Jackson Akapelwa as a defense witness but when the matter came up yesterday for testimony, the witness disclaimed any knowledge of the case.
Earlier, Luo denied the allegations, stating that he did not at any time observe the victims go to his residence to request an axe or pliers.
He claimed that he suspected his ex-wife, the mother of one of the victims, could have plotted against him after she learned that he had found a woman he intended to marry.
The accused claimed that it was the same day he returned from his fiancée’s place that he was arrested and detained at Chipembi police post before being transferred to Chisamba Police Station.
Magistrate Magalashi adjourned the matter to December 9 for judgment after hearing Luo’s defense witness statement, while the accused remains in detention.
