Police in Mangochi arrested and suspiciously released on bail a fellow police officer, Constable Alfred Marko, who allegedly defiled a 6 year old girl in the early evening hours of 23 October 2013 in Mapira village, TA Mponda in Mangochi.
Constable Marko is a friend to the girl’s family and on that fateful day, the Constable took Atuweni from her home at around 6 O’clock in the evening to his house. Marko diverted from his house and darted with the little, unsuspecting girl to a near-by dark corner. He undressed the standard one girl and lay on top of her.
When George Maulidi was driving to his house past the dark corner, he noticed that an elderly person was having sex with a young girl and he stopped. It was at that point that Constable Marko dressed up quickly and run away. However, Maulidi got hold of the little girl and then chased the rapist. With the help of taxi bicycle operators, they managed to catch Constable Marko and brought him to police for alleged defilement. The police detained Marko and released him on police bail the next day under very suspicious circumstances. Meanwhile , he has since not yet appeared before the court.
Noticing that the case may either be derailed or not be prosecuted at all, YONECO Mangochi District Office mobilized other CSOs including NICE, SEEED Malawi, CCJP and met the Officer In-charge of Mangochi police, Elijah Kachikuwo to register concerns over delays to prosecute the case despite having an overwhelming evidence. Kachikuwo promised to speed up investigations and prosecution of the case. YONECO and the other CSOs agreed with the Police Officer In-charge on a seven days ultimatum.
Coincidentally, the incident happened soon after YONECO presented the Outcome Measurement Report of their Unite for Body Rights Program (UFBR) to Mangochi District Stakeholders, which among others, established that Police Officers are the main perpetrators of sexual abuse among the vulnerable groups of people including sex workers.
