Court orders arrest of Police who raped 18 women during protest

TRACKING ___A court in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, has ordered the arrest of the police officers who raped and abused 18 women and girls during anti-government protests in 2019.

The high court judge, Kenyatta Nyirenda in a ruling on Thursday said;

“It is important that the officers… that sexually assaulted and raped the applicants and all other women and girl be arrested and prosecuted.”

Seventeen policemen had been accused of molesting and sexually assaulting 18 women and girls during an operation to disperse demonstrators in October in three districts on the outskirts of the city.

Three of the victims were under 18 years old.

The Women Lawyers Association, which represented the women in court, hailed the judgement as a precedent-setting victory.

“The effects of this case will be much broader than just in Malawi,” the association’s president, Tadala Chimkwezule, said.

“The justice system is not blind, and this ruling is very pivotal to the human rights discourse,” she added.

Thursday’s judgement was “one of the greatest rebukes to sexual harassment against women and impunity by some police officers in Malawi,” agreed national Ombudswoman Martha Chizuma.

A report compiled by the Malawi Human Rights Commission served as evidence in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit.

Daily Times gathered that individual victims compensation amounts will be determined by the court’s registrar within 21 days.