By KASONDE KASONDE and GLORIA KANGWA –
A SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD girl in Siavonga has been raped by two boys aged 16 and 17 in an incident that happened after the victim and her two friends left their boarding school to buy necessities at a market.
The rape is alleged to have happened at one of the boy’s home on Monday last week, July 24, 2017 around 08:00 hours.
Police are yet to establish if a 14-year-old girl, who was with the victim, was also defiled at the same house.
Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said the three girls left the school premises for the market to buy school necessities.
On their way to the market, the girls were lured by a boy who took them to his parents’ house situated near the main market and when they got there, six other boys joined them.

KATONGO

The boys bought alcohol which they mixed with energy drinks and started drinking, but the girls refused to partake.
Ms Katongo said after getting drunk, the boy at whose house they were took the 16-year-old girl to his bedroom where he was joined by his friend and they allegedly took turns in raping her.
The 14-year-old girl is reported to have been taken to another bedroom.
Ms Katongo said the third girl who had remained in the living room decided to check on her friends and found one of them in a bathtub where one of the boys was cleaning her private parts and when she questioned him on what had happened, the boy failed to give a convincing explanation.
“The matter was brought to the attention of the school management who later reported to police and after visiting the scene, they discovered a bedspread with fresh blood stains,” Ms Katongo said.
She said the victims were issued with medical report forms and the two boys were picked and jointly charged with the offence of rape while police were still investigating the sexual abuse of the 14-year-old girl.
Ms Katongo said the other boys who were at the house were picked by police but later released on insufficient evidence as all the witnesses could not link them to the alleged  offences.
She said the mother of one of the suspects had been arrested for interfering with witnesses and charged with conspiracy to defeat justice and interference with witnesses.
All the accused persons have been released on police bond.
In Kitwe, the Drug-Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested two juveniles aged 14 and 17 for allegedly being in possession of 1.4 kilogrammes of cannabis.
The duo was arrested at the weekend following an operation by the
law-enforcement officers.
DEC public relations officer Theresa Katongo, who confirmed the development in interview yesterday, said the said drugs were found with the juveniles at the time of the arrest.
Ms Katongo said the Commission was sad by the involvement of youths in drugs abuse.