RABECCA BANDA writes
@SunZambian
THE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a pupil to one month imprisonment, with hard labour, for assault.
This is in a case in which Elliot Mwanza, 19, a pupil of Mtendere Township, acting together with others unknown, allegedly assaulted Bupe Mulenga.
Mwanza admitted the charge of assault, occasionally actual bodily harm, contrary to the laws of Zambia, when he appeared before Magistrate Nsunge Chanda.
Mwanza, in his defense, accused the victim, Mulenga, of being drunk at the time, and of having started the fight when he allegedly hit Mwanza’s friend with a bottle during an argument over beer.
He said Mulenga’s action prompted Mwanza and his friends to react and beat up the victim.
Mwanza said his friends ran away when the people came to stop the fight and that he was the only one apprehended because he remained behind.
In mitigation, Mwanza pleaded to the court for mercy saying he would never and said he will not do it again.
He said he was an orphan and the person who kept him would not allow him to go back to his home because of the offence he committed.
In her ruling, Magistrate Chanda said assault was a serious offence which was punishable by law and that the medical report indicated that the complainant sustained serious injuries.
“Because of your age, I will sentence you to one month imprisonment with hard labour so that you can learn that assault is an offence,” she said.
The court sentenced Mwanza to one month imprisonment with hard labour.
