DELAYS IN ARRESTING A POLICE OFFICER WHO DEFILED A GIRL BELOW THE AGE OF 16, WORRIES MBAO
Northern Province Minister Leonard Mbao has instructed police command in Northern Province to bring to book a police officer who defiled a girl below the age of 16.
Mr. Mbao told the Zambia News and Information Services in Luwingu district that he is disappointed to note that a police officer who defiled a girl under the age of 16 in March this year has not yet been arrested.
He said his government will not protect wrongdoers or criminals but to report such cases to Zambia police.
Mr Mbao explained that sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 is a criminal offence under section 138 of the penal code chapter 87 of laws of Zambia.
He lamented that a police officer is not above the law so he should be arrested and taken to court.
Mr. Mbao further explained that section 138 (1) states that any person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of 16 years is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life.
Meanwhile, an officer from the Social Welfare Officer in Luwingu explained that the case has taken too long and wondered why police have not arrested the culprit.
The source said when the incident happened, the girl was immediately taken to the hospital where health examinations were conducted but police have ignored the findings of health doctors.
The officer said the police officer has since been transferred from Luwingu where the incident happened to an unknown place.
Meanwhile, the child who was defiled by a said police officer is in the hands of the department of social welfare in Kasama.
And some Luwingu police officers who declined to be named revealed that the docket was opened in March 2023 when the incident was reported but the matter has not been taken to court.
Efforts to get a comment from the provincial police commissioner Gloria Mulele failed as the phone went unanswered.