THE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has convicted a 16-year-old maid for assaulting a one-year-old boy by pouring hot water on him.

When the matter came up before Magistrate Nsunge Chanda last week, the juvenile offender pleaded guilty to pouring hot water on the victim after he defecated on himself.

It is alleged that on January 9, 2020, in Lusaka’s 10 Miles area, the 16-year-old maid assaulted a child below the age of 16 years, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.

She told the Court that she slapped the boy after he soiled his pants and later poured hot water on him as she was about to cook nshima.

Facts before the Court are that on the material day, the accused poured hot water on the boy after discovering that the boy had soiled himself.

The accused was apparently seen by another juvenile who witnessed the assault and later alerted neighbours and the mother of the victim who then reported the matter to police.

When the matter came up, Wednesday, Magistrate Chanda said she could not sentence the juvenile offender before seeing the victim and wondered why the juvenile offender could have so much anger against an infant.

She then asked the juvenile offender’s stepfather what kind of upbringing he gave to the accused for her to be so harsh on the child.

In response, the man said his stepdaughter was sometimes kept by her grandparents and that he was not aware that she was a maid.

The Magistrate, however, ordered that the complainant be summoned in the case so that the Court could also see the extent of harm effected on the victim.

“I want to see the baby so that social welfare can tell us how they are keeping this baby,” said Magistrate Chanda.

The case has since been adjourned to March 25, 2020, for sentencing.