By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

POLICE are holding a man of Kasumwa Village in Chief Kalaba’s area in Mansa and his wife for allegedly conspiring to have their 12-year-old daughter defiled, as part of a cleansing ritual.
Luapula Province Police chief Malcolm Mulenga said Police had arrested Danstan Ng’andwe, 55 and his wife Victoria Mwape for conspiracy to defilement after they allegedly gave their daughter to their son-in-law, Mathews Chabu of Kalulushi to have sex with her.
This was in an apparent move to cleanse him after the death of their older daughter, who was Chabu’s wife.
Mr Mulenga said it was alleged that almost two weeks ago on September 21, around 19:00 hours after supper, Mwape told her 12-year-old daughter that she would spend a night at the home of ‘Bana Tilipya’ within the village.
He said the girl’s grandmother known as Bana Mwape took the girl to the said house where she found her brother-in-law, Chabu, who had travelled from Kalulushi to the village for cleansing after his wife’s death.
The grandmother took the girl to the kitchen where she laid a mattress and green and white bedsheets and instructed the girl to lie there.
Mr Mulenga said Chabu allegedly joined the girl in the kitchen after which her grandmother held the girl’s legs apart as Chabu had sex with her.
“When the victim started complaining of pain while having sex, the grandmother told her to be strong and she later left the room leaving the suspect on top of her,” he said.
A few days later, on September 24, this year, the girl’s father reported the matter to Police accusing Chabu of defiling his daughter but after preliminary investigations, Police arrested him and his wife for conspiring with Chabu, while they were pursuing the suspected defiler and the grandmother who are on the run.
Meanwhile, Police are investigating a possible murder of a 37-year-old woman of Milishi Village of Chief Kasomalwela Village in Chembe District who was found dead on Monday around 05:00 hours naked and smeared with faeces.
Mr Mulenga said Belinda Obed, who is suspected to have been a mental patient, was found dead with bruises, blood and faeces on her body.
He said it was not clear if the deceased was raped but Police were still investigating the matter and that the body was in Mansa General Hospital.