THE Lusaka Magistrates court was yesterday a scene of mixed emotions as the four-month trial of Longwe Ngosa ended with her receiving a seven year jail stay for assaulting her stepson aged four.
As Magistrate Mutinta Mwenya pronounced the verdict, Longwe remained calm as her face and body language communicated almost nothing about how she felt about the judgement.
Quite different from her mother and siblings who broke down and wailed loudly she was laid back in the dock with her hand covering her mouth.
Longwe’s soldier husband was upset about the turn of events blaming his son’s teacher who recorded the video which showed the scars inflicted on the child.
Bwalya vented his anger on the nosy reporters that wanted his reaction.
“You f**** off! You are the least person I want to see, don’t even try to capture me, I don’t want to see myself anywhere or else you will see what I will do! don’t put words in my mouth! my wife has gone to jail and my son has been kept away from me because that teacher created a fake video,” Bwalya said as he rushed down the court corridor.
When persistant and pursuing reporters asked if Bwalya approved of his wife maltreating his child,he rescinded; “nshalipo walefwaya incite inshi? nga balemuma lwakwe (I wasn’t around what did you expect me to do? If he was being battered that’s his fault).”
As for the relatives of the child’s late mother, they too wore sad faces although they seemed celebrate the child’s teacher Naomi Chisola whom they gave a group hug as they exited the the court.
Ngosa of MC2A 78 Apollo military camp was charged with assault on a child before the Lusaka Magistrates Court, which attracts a minimum sentence of five years.
Between April 1, 2023 and July 31, 2023 Ngosa assaulted a single orphaned minor under the age of 16.
On November 1, 2023 the child eloquently revealed it all before Magistrate Mutinta Mwenya, of how his stepmother used a hosepipe and a knife to inflict harm on him.
Upon being queried about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Ngosa by State prosecutor Malama Chisenga, the brilliant boy recounted his maltreatment without difficulty and implicated his bonus mom of scarring his little body.
He said Ngosa would flog him with a hose pipe and a ‘shamboko’. The boy also managed to identify her as his torturer
Doctor Brian Ngoma an orthopedist University Teaching Hospital who diagnosed the child with non-accidental trauma said the lacerations on his body and deformity on his left forearm and leg was as a result of abuse and not accidental.
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He said the child was also malnourished.
In her defense Ngosa gave conflicting statements regarding the the healed abrasions on the child’s body, when she claimed that the boy’s teacher Naomi Chisola who exposed the abuse to the public, was responsible for all the all torture marks on his tiny body.
She later claimed that the whip marks on his back were bed sores which developed as a result of maintaining the same sleeping position when he was admitted to UTH, while the ones on his stomach was as a reaction to some food he might have eaten at school.
But in her findings magistrate Mwenya said Ngosa’s explanation was unflavored as beetroots, as the impact of the injuries as evidenced by the medical report were grave, and the abuse should not have happened to the four-year-old child.
“The boy was injured in unknown circumstances. The teacher noticed something was amiss with him and when questioned he told her that his mother had beaten him,”magistrate Mwenya said.
“I have carefully analyzed the evidence in its entirety and it is clear that the child knows who assaulted him as he mentioned in the video that was recorded of him. The sores on his body were just discovered by a concerned teacher at his school. The video is clear and difficult to watch and one would wonder how a mother could do such a thing.”
She said whilst under the care of Ngosa the child sustained serious injuries on his body that should not have happened to a four year old child who could not recollect all the perpetual abuse except the last one which made the school report the case.
“The injuries are too much for a mere fall or razor blade cutting. The evidence has left me with no doubt that this child has been assaulted for a period of time under a primary care giver with no one to rescue him, all he knew was that he was a bad boy,”magistrate Mwenya said.
“I don not therefore uphold the evidence of the accused person after considering all the evidence before me I find that the State has managed to prove the case of assault on a child beyond reasonable doubt and I convict her accordingly.”
When given chance to address the court and plead for leniency before the sentencing, Ngosa opted to remain silent.
Four police officers eventually walked Ngosa down to the Lusaka Central Correctional Facility just across the the Magistrates Court to start her 84-month stay behind bars.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba March 12, 2024
