Mangochi First Grade Magistrate court has discharged a 30 year old man, on charges of defilement due to lack of tangible evidence provided by the state witnesses.

The court heard through State Prosecutor Amos Mwase, who identified suspect as Lucius Kadzuwa.

Mwase told the court  that from December 2022 to January 2023, the accused had been having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16, contrary to section 138 of the penal code.

“An unknown individual lodged the complaint to police after establishing that the girl was pregnant, which led to the arrest of the suspect on February 15, 2023,” said Mwase.

The first witness to testify in this case was the victim herself, who said she was 17 years old and not 13 as stated by the state and further told the court that she never had sex with the accused adding the one responsible for her pregnancy was a boy named Sam.

Then the state paraded the victim’s mother as its second witness and in her testimony, she collaborated with her daughter on the age and later told the court that the case was based on hearsay and gossip, saying as mother she would have known if the suspect were having sex with her daughter saying she was surprised to be told that her daughter had been defiled by the suspect.

After the evidence, the state requested the court to discharge the case according to section 81 of the criminal procedure and evidence code, which states that an accused shall be discharged, but such discharge shall not operate as a bar to subsequent proceedings against him on account of the same fact.

First Grade Magistrate Roy Kakutu agreed with the state and added that, should the state find new evidence on the matter; it is free to resume the case.

Both the suspect and the victim hail from Masambuka Village, Sub-T/A Ntonda in Mangochi District.