A MAN of Chipata in Eastern Province has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment with hard labour for indecently assaulting his one-year five-month-old stepdaughter ostensibly as an attempt to stop her from crying.

Previously, Masaiti Mwale was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment, which the Court of Appeal has reduced to 18 years after it established that he used his finger and not his manhood on the child’s private parts.

In 2019, Mwale was charged and convicted of the offence of defilement.

During trial, evidence showed that Mwale used his finger and not his manhood to defile the child.

The evidence on record further showed that Mwale indecently assaulted the child by placing his finger in her private parts when he was in bed with his wife.

Credit: Zambia Daily Mail