A court in Zambia has sentenced a man to 18 years imprisonment with hard labour for allegedly indecently assaulting his one-year five-month-old stepdaughter ostensibly as an attempt to stop her from crying.

The man has been identified as Masaiti Mwale.

Initially, Mwale was handed 40 years but the court of appeal reduced to 18 years after it established that he used his finger and not his manhood on the child’s private parts.

In 2019, Mwale was charged and convicted of the offence of defilement.

The evidence on record further showed that Mwale indecently assaulted the child by placing his finger in her private parts when he was in bed with his wife.