Woman Jailed For Burning Step Son

A woman has been jailed to eight years imprisonment with hard labour for pouring hot water on her 5-year-old step-son in Chikwawa district in Malawi.

The convict, Bertha Bango aged 18, was found guilty by First Grade Magistrate Gladstone Chirundu.

Chikwawa Police Station State Prosecutor, Inspector Helix Kamkweche, told the court that the convict on 30th May this year scalded the child while her father was at work at Illovo Sugar Estate.

“The incident left the child disfigured and paralysed. He had been admitted to Mercy James Centre in Blantyre for three months,” Kamkweche said

However, Bango pleaded not guilty to a charge of acts intended to cause grievous harm.

“But the state paraded four witnesses and the accused was subsequently found guilty as charged. In her mitigation she asked the court to give her a lighter sentence saying she was nursing a baby,” Kamkweche added

However, he prayed to the same court to hand out a stiff sentence, saying it would send a strong signal to other women harbouring sinister motives to their step-children.

Bertha Bango comes from Romasi Village in Paramount Chief Lundu’s area in Chikwawa District.