If anyone ever doubted that courts can acquit accused persons in sex-related cases, then a ruling delivered yesterday by the Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe may serve as a strong reminder that Malawi’s courts are guided by evidence, facts and the law — not emotions.
Senior Resident Magistrate Bracious Blessusall Chanda Kondowe yesterday, acquitted Gebuza James, who had been charged with having sexual intercourse with a child contrary to Section 138 (1) of the Penal Code.
The accused was alleged to have had sexual intercourse with a three-year-old girl after inviting her into his house to eat nsima. Although medical evidence presented before court suggested there was possible sexual activity, the court found serious inconsistencies and gaps in the prosecution’s case.
Among the concerns raised in the judgment were contradictions on the alleged time of the offence, unreliable video evidence produced by the child’s mother and failure by investigators to properly rule out another possible suspect identified only as “Gibo”.
In a judgment rich with legal reasoning, Kondowe stressed that courts cannot convict on sympathy, assumptions or public pressure.
“Criminal trials require proof, not belief,” the judgement reads in part.
The court further warned that: “If a conviction rests only on belief, the Court risks lowering the standard of proof and substituting sympathy or assumption for legal analysis.”
The court found that the prosecution had failed to establish an unbroken chain of evidence pointing only to the accused and ruled that it would be unsafe to convict him in the circumstances.
Quoting renowned English jurist William Blackstone, the judgment stated: “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”
After concluding that the State had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, the court acquitted Gebuza James and ordered his immediate release.
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