A former clinician of Mzuzu Central Hospital who was serving an eight year sentence for raping an imbecile patient whom he had sedated while on duty has been released on bail.

The Mzuzu High Court granted the bail to Hope Chipwatali who was convicted of rape and only served four months of the sentence. Chipwatali, not new to the controversy of abusing patients in his care, appealed his sentence and was serving time while awaiting the verdict of the appeal case.

Chipwatali’s bail was given to him on the condition that he caught Tuberculosis while in prison. Strangely, however, many Malawians are languishing in prison while suffering from the same disease.