PROBE SUSPICION CASE, JUDICIARY URGED

CHILD rights activist, Veronica Zimba has called for the immediate probe into a case that has shocked the nation where a Lusaka man convicted of defiling a four-year-old child was released from jail in unclear circumstances. Ms Zimba said it was important that the Judiciary in all cases was seen to be professional and impartial to ensure justice prevailed. Last week, the victim’s mother Daisy (surnamed withheld) of Makeni was shocked to meet the convicted man who had defiled her daughter and was supposed to be serving 18 years jail term. Ms Zimba who is director of Action for Child Rights (ACR) said there was need for the authorities to probe the case and that if there was anything criminal in the release of the convict, those involved should be brought to book to ensure justice is served. She said there was no way a person who was convicted for destroying a child’s life and was supposed to be in prison for his actions can be freed under any circumstance in less than a year after he was found guilty by the Magistrate who committed him to the High Court for sentencing. Ms Zimba wondered why the officers from the Social Welfare decided to lie to the mother of the victim that the perpetrator was serving a jail term at Katombora reformatory prison when they knew that he was freed. “From what the mother to the victim is explaining, there is a likelihood that a lot of people including those from the social welfare are involved in the release of the person who the Magistrate court convicted and committed to the high court for sentencing,” she said. And the mother to the victim, Ms Daisy has demanded for the arrest of the perpetrator and those behind his release saying this is the only way the her and the victim will have their emotion wounds healed.