Rumphi First Grade Magistrate’s Court has sentenced CCAP Synod of Livingstonia cleric Reverend Chiwawa Banda to 14 years imprisonment for defiling a 13- year-old girl last year.
The girl claimed the 42-year-old Reverend Banda of Chiswamapiri Village Traditional Authority Kabunduli in Nkhatabay but based at Luzi in Rumphi, sexually assaulted her three times.
The cleric had also bought a mobile phone for the girl so that he could have more contact with her on Whatsapp.
Sentencing the cleric, First Grade Magistrate Cuthbert Phiri said the jail sentence should serve as a warning to religious leaders who prey on young girls instead of preaching the gospel.
