Two Siavonga juveniles have been arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old school girl.

According to a statement by Police Spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo today, the boys lured the girl, who was on her way back to boarding school in the company of two friends, to their parents’ house where they took some alcohol.

“A girl aged 16 years who is a pupil at one of the Secondary Schools in Siavonga District was allegedly raped by two male juveniles aged 16 and 17 years respectively while another girl aged 14 years is alleged to have been defiled by another male juvenile. Brief facts are that on 24th July, 2017 at about 08 00 hours, the victims who were in the company of another girl, who are in boarding school left the school premises to Siavonga town main market to buy some school necessities. On their way, they were allegedly lured by one of the male juveniles who took them to his parents’ house situated near the main market and once they arrived, a group of six other male juveniles joined them,” Katongo explained.

“The boys bought some alcoholic beverages which they mixed with some energy drink and offered some to the girls but one of the girls refused to drink. The male juvenile who had lured the girls to his parents home then took the 16 years old girl who was in a drunken state to his bedroom where he sexually abused her and he was joined by another boy and they are alleged to have taken turns in raping her while the other girl aged 14 years is reported to have been taken to another bedroom by another male juvenile.”
She stated that the issue was brought to the school management’s attention who later reported it to police.

“The girl who remained in the living room decided to check what was happening and found her 16 year old friend in the bathroom in a bath tab where one of the suspects was found cleaning her private parts. She questioned the accused person on what had transpired to her friend to which he could not give a convincing explanation. The matter was brought to the attention of School Management which later reported to police. Police Officers visited the scene and discovered a bedspread with fresh blood stains,” she stated.

But Katongo said police had not arrested anyone with regards to the alleged defilement of the 14-year-old as they were still awaiting an opinion from medical experts.

“The two victims (the 16 year old girl and the 14 year old girl) were issued with medical report forms and two suspects were picked and jointly charged with the offence of Rape while police are still investigating the sexual abuse of the 14 year old girl alleged to have been defiled as they are still waiting for the opinion of medical experts.
The other boys who were also reported to have been at the scene were picked by police but later released on insufficient evidence as all the witnesses could not link them to the alleged offences,” said Katongo.

“Meanwhile, Police have also arrested the mother of one of the suspects for interfering with witnesses and has since been charged with Conspiracy to Defeat Justice and Interference with witnesses contrary to section 112 Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia. All the accused persons have since been released on Police Bond.”