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suspected to have contracted the deadly virus following the man’s confession.
The man (36) had pleaded not guilty to rape charges when he appeared before regional magistrate Mr Rodgers Kachambwa, who convicted him because of overwhelming evidence.
He was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment of which six years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.

In assessing sentence, Mr Ka-chambwa noted everything the man said in mitigation.
However, in aggravation the court noted that the man abused his stepdaughter when his wife was in the rural areas.

“He confesses to be HIV positive, which worsens the offence he committed because by engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with her knowing that he was HIV positive it was like sentencing complainant to death,” he said.

Mr Kachambwa said the girl was only medically examined to determine whether she was raped and she still has to be tested for HIV.
The State proved that sometime in May last year the girl’s mother left the girl in her husband’s custody. On a day the girl could not remember but during the same month, her aunt decided to go for a beer drink with her boyfriend and the rapist. The aunt left the girl with her male friend.

At around 8pm the stepfather returned home and dismissed the man the girl was left with.
The girl went to a spare bedroom where she usually sleeps with her aunt.

Her stepfather then followed her before he removed his belt and threatened to beat her before he undressed her, telling her that he wanted to be intimate with her.
When the girl resisted his advances, he threatened to kill her.

He gagged her mouth with his hands and raped her.
The girl later narrated her ordeal to her aunt who reported the matter to police.