By SYLVIA MWEETWA? –

A FIFTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Kabwe man, who  strangled his  three-year-old granddaughter before wrapping the body in a  mosquito net, has been sentenced to six years  imprisonment with hard labour.
Kabwe High Court  Judge Elita  Mwikisa  sentenced Steven Lukwesa, who was facing a murder charge but  later  reduced  to manslaughter, after a medical report  presented before court indicated that at the time the crime was  committed, the convict was mentally unstable.
This is in a case in which, Lukwesa on July 7, 2010 is alleged to have murdered the child only identified as Njavwa but he denied the charge.
Mother  of the  child  Naomi Nambela narrated  that on the fateful day, she saw her father carrying something on his back but when asked he did not give a clear  explanation and later learnt that it was her child he was carrying.
She said the convict later dumped the body of the child which was wrapped in a mosquito net.?At the closure of the case, Lukwesa was found with a case to answer and put on his defence but he denied killing the child.
A postmortem report revealed that the child died of strangulation and after sustaining a cut on her throat.
But when the matter came up for judgment, the court was in receipt of a  medical report which stated that the  convict was mentally unstable and that  at the time he committed the  offence, he was detached from reality.
In passing sentence, however, Ms Justice Mwikisa said  the offence Lukwesa committed was serious considering that he took away the life of his grandchild and that she was  sending him to  prison to reflect on his actions.
She told the  convict, who currently is stable, to use  the time in prison to reflect on his actions and  also  to consider reconciling with his family and  warned  that he risked spending the rest of his life in prison if he commits a similar offence.
Earlier in mitigation, the convict through his lawyer Humphrey Mweemba asked for leniency saying he was remorseful.