A 22-year-old man will spend the next five years in jail after he was convicted of attempting to rape his 31-year-old sister as punishment for siring children out of wedlock when she was still staying in South Africa.

Appearing before a Zambian court last week, the man whose name has not been revealed to protect the victim, pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted rape.

The court magistrate, Mrs Zuyu however, convicted the man due to overwhelming evidence and sentenced him to 10 years in jail.

Delivering sentence, Mrs Zuyu considered that the man wasted the court’s time by denying committing the crime yet it was clear that he had an intention of raping his sister given the overwhelming evidence.

“You wasted the court’s time and you deserve harsh sentence. How dare can you attempt to rape your own sister in full view of your other sister? Your behaviour leaves a lot to be desired. You should be kept out of society for long,” said Mrs Zuyu.

Prosecuting Ms Precious Rusere said sometime in April this year, the man arrived home and found his two sisters in their bedroom hut. He then accused the other of having had “kids without a father” when she was in South Africa.

“The man arrived home at around 8pm and started accusing one of the sisters of siring children in South Africa out of wedlock. The woman had been previously staying in South Africa where she had sired two children with an unknown man.

“When the helpless woman attempted to respond, the man started to assault her threatening to rape her the same way she had been abused while in South Africa, in full view of the other sister. He pinned her and tried to force himself onto her with an intention to rape her but she screamed for help,” she said.

The court heard that the screaming attracted a neighbour who rushed to her rescue. The neighbour then made a report at Police Station leading to the man’s arrest while the woman was taken to hospital for medical examinations.