Malawian man gets life sentence over defilement

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—In what can be described as a strong warning to perpetrators of rape and defilement in the country, the High Court sitting in Lilongwe has convicted and sentenced  Aubrey Kalulu, 30, to life imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for defiling a 10-year old girl and infecting her with HIV.

Lilongwe Police Public Relations Officer Joseph Kachikho said Kalulu was convicted before Judge Ivy Kamanga following a review of the case which had previously been handled by a lower court in 2019.

Kachikho said the lower court, through the then Principal Resident Magistrate Chisomo Msokera, had proposed 30 years in prison for Kalulu.

Kalulu defiled a daughter to his tenant and seriously injured her private parts.

The girl had difficulties in walking and was producing odour.

Cases of defilement and rape have been on the increase this year, a development that has worried many Malawians.

Recently, homeland security minister Richard Chimwendo Banda, who is also a Member of Parliament, ignited fierce debate when he ‘unconsciously’ proposed mob justice as a remedy to the vice.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).