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James Bwalya and Matthews Sikaonga, accused of abducting 13 young women and holding them captive at a house in Chalala, Lusaka, have been convicted on 54 criminal counts by the Lusaka High Court.
Judge Charles Kafunda found the two guilty of the offences of aggravated assault with intent to steal, rape, abduct and assault occassioning actual bodily harm.
The now convicts committed the said inhumane acts between January and October, 2022.
Read more: Alleged kidnappers, Bwalya, Sikaonga plead guilty to abducting 13 women
The two admitted to abusing the victims by sexually exploiting and beating them with an iron bar, kicks and fist.
They forced them to abuse alcohol and to prevent them from getting pregnant, as the perpetrators injected them with contraceptives.
Facts in the matter are that before the abduction of the 13, Bwalya attempted to kidnap a woman on January 12,2022.
Armed with a pistol and a machete, he took the victim to her bedroom, tied her hands using a USB cable he found and stuffed her mouth with a kitchen towel.
He then ordered her to call the maid not to report to work, which she obliged. Bwalya then went outside to make a call, during this period, the victim managed to untie herself and shouted for help. She was rescued by her garden boy and members of the public managed to apprehend Bwalya.
He was taken to Kanyama Police Station where he was released on Police bond. Since then, he was on the run until his arrest on October 4, 2022.
In count two to six, Bwalya and Sikaonga, abducted a woman together with her three year old daughter on March 17, 2022.
She was lured by Bwalya who was in a company of an unknown woman. Bwalya introduced himself as a police officer, investigating the company she worked for.
Bwalya booked a taxi and took the victim and her daughter to an unknown house. He blind-folded her, tied her hands with rope. He used a maxing tape to cover her mouth. She was beaten with an iron bar. When she could not provide a mobile pin number, the duo tortured the victim until she became unresponsive. At the time of the ordeal, the victim was two months pregnant.
The duo took the victim and her daughter to the house in Chalala. The torture continued with the duo taking turns to rape her in the presence of her child.
Two weeks later, Bwalya took the child whom he dumped at a police station. Bwalya and Sikaonga continued to sexually exploit her until she advanced in pregnancy.
At some point, four victims were put in sacks for eight hours for straight four days while one was slammed to the wall and whipped on the buttocks with an iron bar for resisting to consume alcohol.
The court heard how Bwalya would travel to Chipata to see a witch doctor to ensure they were not located by the Police.
The duo threatened the victims that they would become mentally unsound if the made known to anyone the state of affairs, as that would activate the black magic in the house.
According to facts on record, the women managed to escape after Bwalya and Sikaonga forgot a key in the key hole of the pantry door. The victims managed to break both the kitchen door and grill door before one jumped over the fence. The rescue was successful with the help of the youths who heard their calls for help.
One of the victims managed to report the matter to Godfrey Miyanda Police station. The police arrived at the scene and conducted investigations.
After reading of facts in all the 54 counts which Bwalya and Sikaonga admitted to be true and correct, Judge Kafunda, convicted them accordingly.
He set June 16, 2023, for sentencing hearing in camera and June 22, 2023 ,for judgement.
Justice Kafunda explained that the purpose of the sentence hearing was to receive evidence that would assist the court in rendering an appropriate punishment on the convicts.
Gender organizations, among them NGOCC, attended the hearing in solidarity of the victims. They wore black.
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