Dowa First Grade Magistrate Court has sentence a 22year old Julius Nathambwe to 8years Imprisonment with Hard Labour for the offence of kidnaping or abducting in order to murder contrary to section 261 of the penal code.
The court heard that early January this year the convict approached a certain business man at Dowa Boma saying he had a boy whom he wanted to sale.
The business man denied the deal and reported the matter to Dowa Police Station and investigations were conducted through a police officer who pretended to be a buyer from Lilongwe.
The convict got convinced of the Lilongwe buyer and cheated the boy that they should go to Dowa Boma to repair a phone. He then later offered the boy for sale at the price of K900, 000. The police later arrested the man at Malawi savings bank Dowa branch where they agreed to get the money.
In mitigation the convict told the court that his wife is pregnant and that he felt sorry for himself.
Police prosecutor sergeant Triza Kalonjele asked the court to give the man a stiffer punishment saying what he did endangered the life of a young boy. Kalonjele added that this behaviour is promoting the selling of private parts and anyone found guilty on such offences should be sentenced to more years in prison, to warn the would be offenders.
First grade magistrate Emulani Phiri agreed with the state that the convict deserved a stiffer punishment. He then sentenced him to 8years IHL to deter other would be offenders.
The magistrate said, “If the police officer was a serious buyer that means the boy would have been killed or something serious could have happened to him. This is a bad development which needs to be stopped,” said the Phiri before sentencing the man to eight years IHL.
The one to be sold was identified in court as Jailosi Tchale from Katsukunya village T/A Msakambewa District Dowa while the convict comes from Nambelele Village T/A Msakambewa in the same district.
