Mistaken identity: Wrong man spends 7 months in jail

A Mangochi man who was wrongly identified as having sexual intercourse with a four-year-eight-month-old girl has been acquitted after spending seven months in detention.

According to the Malawi Legal Aid Bureau, James Nandewe Kasiyama was acquitted after the court found that the State had failed to provide enough evidence linking him to the alleged offence.

The Bureau said the State had alleged that Kasiyama had sexual intercourse with the four-year-eight-month-old girl at his house. The girl was reportedly a friend of Kasiyama’s son.

When Kasiyama was arrested, he sought legal aid, which was granted. He was represented by Principal Legal Aid Advocate Upile Mapata and Senior Legal Aid Advocate Maxwell Shaba.

The Bureau said the State called four witnesses during the trial.

In her initial testimony, the child told the court that she had been sexually assaulted with a stick by Kasiyama.

However, during examination, the child identified another man who frequently visited their village to drink as the person who had assaulted her.

According to the Bureau, the child confirmed during re-examination that the man she had identified was not in court and was not Kasiyama.

Medical evidence presented before the court showed that the child had been penetrated.

However, the Bureau said the evidence did not establish what had caused the penetration or identify the person responsible.

When called upon to enter his defence, Kasiyama told the court that he had left home on the day of the alleged offence to undertake piece work and returned in the evening, according to the Bureau.

The defence also called a friend of the child, who testified that the person who grabbed the child and took her away was another man who frequently visited their village, not Kasiyama.

In delivering judgment, His Worship Chande held that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the child had been penetrated by a male sexual organ, the Bureau reported.

The court further found that there was insufficient evidence to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Kasiyama was the person who had assaulted the child.

Kasiyama was consequently acquitted and released after spending seven months in detention.