The Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has convicted a 38-year-old man of Zesco township and committed him to the High Court for sentencing, for having carnal knowledge of his seven year-old son.

Lusaka Magistrate Nsunge Chanda convicted Victor Mukuka, Tuesday, after finding him guilty of the offence.

In this matter, Mukuka was charged with one count of unnatural offence but had pleaded not guilty last year.

Particulars of the offence were that Mukuka, on dates unknown but between January and May 10, 2018, in Lusaka, had unlawful carnal knowledge of his seven-year-old son against the order of nature.

During trial, the victim told the court that his father used to defile him at night.

“My father used to have sex with me through the my anus and this used to happen at night. I used to feel pain when he had sex with me,” he said.

The victim said when he informed a neighbour about his situation, he was taken to the hospital where he was given some medicine “and the pain stopped”.

He said after his wounds had healed, he was taken to Home of Hope orphanage, adding that he didn’t want to stay with his father because he liked defiling him.

During cross examination, Mukuka asked his son if he ever had sex with him and the child said yes.

But in his defence, Mukuka denied defiling his son saying his family members framed him because they wanted to get the family house, adding that they had told his son what to say in court.

However, magistrate Chanda noted that it was a fact that Mukuka, who was the the victim’s biological father, used to sleep with the child on the same bed

She added that it was also a fact that after the incident, that child had a rash on his private parts.

Magistrate Chanda further said the neighbour used to hear the boy crying at night, confirming the child’s revelation that the accused used to sodomise him at night.

“The victim also told the court that his father used to have sex with him. The accused’s neighbour also said the victim confided in her and revealed that the accused used to have sex with him. The same woman checked the child’s private parts and found rash and reported the matter to the police,” she said.

Magistrate Chanda convicted Mukuka of the offence and committed him to the High Court, saying the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was corroborative.

“I find the accused guilty of the offence and convict him accordingly. Mitigation will be done at the High Court. The minimum mandatory sentence for the offence is 14 years,” said Magistrate Chanda.

Magistrate Chanda observed that at his age, the child loved the father and there was no way he could lie that he used to have sex with him.

She added that it was unfortunate that the boy was mentally and physically tortured.