A 16-year-old grade eight pupil, who was allegedly defiled and impregnated by her 18-year-old boyfriend, has told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that she consented to the sex and that she didn’t disclose her real age to him.

The 16-year-old further told the court that her boyfriend actually threatened to report her to the police if she aborted the pregnancy.

This is a matter in which an 18-year-old grade nine pupil of Bayuni primary school in Makeni is facing one count of defilement of a child.

Particulars of the offence allege that in July last year, the juvenile who resides in Lusaka’s John Laing compound had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16.

The juvenile offender had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge saying he thought the girl was 17 years old and that the two were in a relationship.

The juvenile had further told the court that the girl allowed him to have carnal knowledge of her and it only happened once.

And when the matter came up before Lusaka magistrate Nsunge Chanda, the defence lawyer informed the court that her client wanted to retake plea.

The juvenile later on retook plea and a plea of not guilty was recorded.

The victim was then called to the stand to testify as the first witness.

She then narrated to the court that she met the accused person in November 2017 when she went to fetch water.

The 16-year-old said the accused proposed to her and she accepted.

She added that the duo dated until July 2018 when they had sex for the first time at his house.

“In 2017, November, I went to draw water and I found the accused person. He proposed to me and I said yes. We started dating and we had sex at his house in July,” she said.

The girl told the court that she knew that she was pregnant after she missed her menstrual period.

She said when she told the accused about the pregnancy, he accepted it and warned her not to abort.

“I told him about it and he accepted. He said if I aborted, he was going to take me to the police,” she said.

The juvenile said when her father found out about the pregnancy, he called for a meeting with the accused’s grandmother but she did not show up on two occasions.

The 16-year-old further said her father then decided to report the matter to John Laing police station and later the juvenile was arrested.

In cross examination, the girl told the court that she didn’t tell the accused that she was 15 years old when the duo had sex.