A MAN of Lusaka who was dragged to Matero Local Court for compensation in a case of damage has been let off the hook after the woman he was accused of impregnating confessed that she had slept with another man before the defendant.
Doreen Kapungwe, 20, told Magistrate Harriet Mulenga that before she met Collins Muchindu, she dated two men but was only sexually involved with one whom she identified as ‘Ba Chanda’.
“I have a child with Muchindu, but I wasn’t a virgin when we met. Before him, I dated and had sexual relations with Ba Chanda,” she said.
This was heard in a matter in which Bernard Kapungwe sued Muchindu for compensation for damage.
When magistrate Mulenga asked Muchindu if he broke Doreen’s virginity (damage), he informed the court that she was not a virgin when he slept with her.
“I don’t understand the charge, but I have a child with her. When I met her, she was not a virgin, she had slept with other men before me, so I don’t know how I damaged her,” Muchindu said.
But the complainant, who is Doreen’s brother, insisted that Muchindu ‘damaged’ his sister and he also impregnated her.
“Muchindu got my sister pregnant and he has a child with her, I brought him here so that he can pay me for damage,” Kapungwe insisted.
But magistrate Mulenga explained to Kapungwe that damage is not pregnancy but a violating of someone’s virginity.
The court noted that it has now become common for men to be charged for damage over a woman whose virginity they did not violate.
“In this case, the woman has clearly informed the court that the man who broke her virginity was ‘Chanda,’ so Chanda is the right person to sue, not this man.
Yes, they can have a child together but it is not damage, because damage is not impregnating someone,” she said.
Magistrate Mulenga dismissed the damage or virginity claim and urged Kapungwe to sue the right person and not Muchindu.
– Zambia Daily Mail
