Centre for Youth and Children Affair (CYCA) has challenged authorities to swiftly review the child assault case in Ntcheu where Senior Resident Magistrate Joshua Nkhondo acquitted Vincent Dzimadzi, a man seen in a video clip assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Gochi Village in Ntcheu.
Dzimadzi was filmed last year, violently assaulting a boy child on suspicion that he had intentions to steal from his vehicle.
He, however, was exonerated on account of a medical report which showed that the child did not sustain any injuries.
Meanwhile, CYCA Executive Director Desmond Nyuma Mhango said the decisions of the lower courts at Magistrate Court are supposed to go for review at the High Court so that the case can be heard again by way of appeal to High Court by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mhango said they have written an appeal letter over the case.
“We believe there were weaknesses or errors in the handling of the matter and we are therefore demanding a re-hearing of the case.
“We want to see absolute respect, promotion, and protection of the rights of the children through acceptable justice for the child,” he explained.
He went on to say that they want a full hearing of the case and not the throwing away of the case as per the current court ruling.
He also said that they are contributing to a Constitutional Court case on the age of consent on sexual offenses between or involving a boy child and a girl child.
He noted that under the current law, only the boy child can be faulted by the law when adolescents have consensual sex.
“We want to Court to consider facts around adolescence or adolescent growth and development and realizing the fact that it is prejudice to assume that all boys are equally more powerful than all girls regardless the circumstances,” he said.
He added that evidence is available of girls who ignite sexual relationships with boys up to the point of giving money to the boy.
He then said they are currently monitoring the delivery of child justice at all levels of case management and the information is helping to evidently inform policy decision-makers on matters of child justice.
