Mangochi District Deputy Police Spokesperson, Sub Inspector Amina Tepani Daudi, disclosed this Thursday in an interview after the arrest of a 61-year-old man identified as Papiyasi Kadembo who is suspected to have been defiling and impregnating his 14-year-old step daughter.

“So far, this is the eleventh defilement case to be reported since January 2020 and Mangochi Police Station is deeply concerned with the trend despite continuous efforts to curb the malpractice,” said Tepani Daudi.

But commenting on the development, one of the organizations that fight for the rights of children in the district, Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO), said people should not get much worried with the reports as they can be positive signs that communities are now reporting such issues.

“What police are saying can be very true because we are also receiving more reports on the same but let’s take it as positive. These issues have been happening and people were concealing them,” said Fanny Chilembo, YONECO’s District Coordinator.

According to Chilembo, there have been massive sensitizations on the same and people are now aware of the cases that even family members are able to report such issue even when the perpetrator is a relative which was not the case in the past.

“The other thing is that there is improvement in how our law enforcers are handling this cases. People are being prosecuted and sentenced within the shortest time possible; so communities are also encouraged to report as they are able to see the end result,” said Chilembo.

According to police crime report in the district, in 2019 they registered 30 defilement cases.