A 37-year-old businessman was arraigned before the Chipata Magistrates’ Court in Zambia for allegedly def!ling a 13-year-old in his care while his wife was away giving birth at her parents’ home.
The accused, Chomba Chimfwembe, from Chipata Motel Township, was accused of s3xually abusing the girl on two separate occasions while his wife was in Lusaka.
He faces two counts of def!lement, which he denied before Senior Resident Magistrate Destiny Kalusopa on Friday, August 21, 2026.
It is alleged that Chimfwembe had carnal knowledge of the victim in April and June this year.
His wife, Regina Tembo, 34, testified that upon returning to Chipata after giving birth, she noticed a change in the girl’s behaviour.
Tembo said the child had begun locking her bedroom door at night, despite sharing the room with another child.
“We were just talking like mother and daughter, and I told her, ‘What if something happens to you? You lock the door, and it’s not safe to do that.’ Then I asked, ‘Are you okay?’ At that point, she opened up and told me my husband had defiled her,” Tembo told the court.
She explained that before leaving for Lusaka, she had left the victim and her other child in Katete with her elder sister.
However, her husband later retrieved the two children before she returned to Chipata.
After learning of the revelation, Tembo informed her visiting elder sister so she could hear the story directly, and later notified the victim’s uncle.
During cross-examination, Tembo denied defense allegations that she was fabricating the accusations to gain sole control of her husband’s property if he were imprisoned.
Earlier, the victim testified that the accused had def!led her while his wife was away.
