By Daniel Chansa,
A POLICE officer has appeared before the Mufulira Magistrates’ Court for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl who had gone to seek refuge at the police station.
In this matter, Maxwell Ludaka 44, a police officer of house number MD/3 Sikalangwe police camp in Mufulira, is charged with rape contrary to the laws of Zambia.
It is alleged that between October 8 and November 11, 2020 in Mufulira, Ludaka had unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman without her consent.
When the case came up before Ndola-based senior resident Magistrate Peggy Banda, the victim who is a pupil and resides in Chambeshi testified that on the material day, she went to visit her grandmother who stays in Kamuchanga Township, in Mufulira.
“At around 18:00 hours when I reached Mufulira, coming from Chambeshi, I told the bus conductor to drop me at Katenga bus stop so that I can go to my grandmother in Kamuchanga. But the driver of the bus did not stop and dropped me in town. I then borrowed a phone from a woman and called my grandmother and told her where I was. She advised me to go to a nearby police station as it was getting late. I was then taken to Mufulira police by members of the public,” the girl testified.
She narrated that when she reached Mufulira Central police station, she found a male police officer, Ludaka, on duty and explained to him how she moved.
The victim said Ludaka then asked for her grandmother’s number but when he called it, it did not go through.
She said Ludaka then told her that if any of his workmates asked who she was, she should tell them that she was his niece.
“After the officer who was coming to take over the shift came, he asked me who I was and I explained according to how I moved, but he (Ludaka) insisted that I was his niece. When the other officer went out to change his uniform, he told me that since I did not have where to sleep, he offered to take me to his house so that I sleep with other children,” she said.
The victim further said when she entered the house, Ludaka locked the door.
She said when she asked where the other people were, Ludaka told her that they had gone to visit their grandmother.
The girl narrated that after he showed her where she was going to sleep, Ludaka went to sleep in his bedroom.
She said later in the night, Ludaka went to her room holding a knife and threatened to kill her and throw her body in the drainage if she screamed for help.
The victim said Ludaka then removed her clothes and had carnal knowledge of her.
“After he finished, he went back to his room. The following day, he locked me in the room and came back later in the day and brought me bread, which I never ate,” she said
The victim narrated that the ordeal continued for three days until the fourth day when she escaped.
“On the fourth day, he left early in the morning and came back at around 08:00 hours and appeared drunk. When he left again, I discovered that the doors were not locked, so I got my clothes, leaving my slippers, shorts and a pant under a mattress,” she said.
And when asked by state advocate Innocent Kamunga why she left some clothes, the victim said she left the items as evidence that she was in the house in case something bad happened to her.
She said she then went to the market and asked for help and was given a K20.
The girl testified that she then went back to Chambeshi where she narrated the ordeal to her aunt.
The victim further said when her mother returned from the farm, she told her that she was pregnant but she kept denying it.
She said after a few months, she went back to Mufulira with a view of meeting Ludaka so that he takes responsibility for the pregnancy.
The victim however said her visits were unsuccessful as some police officers at Central police station were not helpful and kept telling her to go there the next day.
She said a female police officer however, assisted her and advised her to report the matter to Kamuchanga police station as the suspect was based at central police station.
Asked by Kamunga why it took her so long to report the matter to her mother or the police, her response was that her mother was short-tempered and that she was scared that she was going to be locked up at the police station since the accused was a police officer.
Currently, the victim has a two-week-old child which she alleges is Ludaka’s.