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The High Court has granted a consent order to have the contravesial case in which a Lusaka woman sued Taj Pamodzi Hotel and its employee for alleged sexual harassment during a massage session, settled through mediation and all information made confidential.
According to a consent order granted by Judge Sharon Newa, the public and the media would not have the chance to know the outcome of the matter as it would be held in camera.
“All communications made in this course of the mediation process shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third party, except as required by law,” agreed the parties.
Early this month, the parties entered into a consent order to settle the issue through mediation to maintain privacy.
The parties who included the litigant, Mwansa Charity Njelesani, the hotel and its employee, Kenneth Musonda, agreed to attempt to resolve the issues in dispute through mediation.
They requested that the case be referred to mediation pursuant to order xxxi(4) of the high Court rules
“The parties believe that owing to the nature of the case mediation would be the best way to resolve the dispute to maintain privacy,” they stated.
In this matter Njelesani , married woman of New Kasama area sued the hotel and massage therapist, Musonda, in the Lusaka High Court, accusing the latter of sexually assaulting her on May 24, 2022 by touching her private parts and even asking if he could ejaculate in her.
She alleged that during the session, Musonda started massaging erogenous zones and she immediately went into tonic immobility.
“While in the state of tonic immobility, Musonda continued to assault her by touching and rubbing her clitor*s and trying to stimulate her thighs and vagina further. The Plaintiff avers that while in the state of tonic immobility, she tried to wriggle away but felt trapped in her body ard helpless.
“The first defendant (Musonda) then continued to assault her by asking her unbefitting questions such as if he could ejaculate in her to which the Plaintiff said no,” she stated.
Pamodzi hotel was shocked by the lawsuit claiming that the woman had, infact, personally requested for the services of Musonda.
The hotel submitted that it was ready to produce the CCTV footage from the material date at trial as evidence against her
The defendant, thus, countersued the plaintiff and was claiming damages for deceit and interest on the amount found due.
Musonda denied sexually assaulting her, saying she, in fact, thanked him for the services and she proceeded to buy beer from the bar and that she hung around the hotel for close to two hours after the massage session.
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