A Monze Magistrate, Mr Pumulo Mubita, sitting as Kalomo magistrate, will on May 20 this year deliver judgment in a case of assault against an under 16-year-old child involving Kalomo Magistrate Inambao Subulwa who has been found with a case to answer.
Subulwa, 45, of Kalomo, is facing a charge of assault on a child contrary to the Laws of Zambia with Magistrate Mubita, as the trial magistrate.
The allegation is that on November 16, 2013 Subulwa in Kalomo, assaulted a minor under the age of 16 and occasioned her actual bodily harm.
A Choma medical doctor Akakulubelwa Mubita, who attended to the victim, reportedly said that at the time of admission to the hospital, the patient had a swollen face and was bleeding from the nose.
Dr Mubita said after carrying out investigations, he concluded that the victim was really assaulted.
However, under cross-examination, Subulwa provided a Choma Out Patient Department and police Occurrence Book photocopy where the victim obtained a medical report, which did not bear her name.
Subulwa further provided the court with the victim’s hospital file from Kalomo indicating that on the material day, the minor was diagnosed with a disease called epistaxis, a condition that leads to breeding.
“I wonder how a victim could have been treated in two different places,” wondered Subulwa.
Testifying for Subulwa, Kalomo medical doctor in charge Luunga Ziko said that although he did not attend to the victim, he was convinced that according to the patient’s file, she had epistaxis that led to her bleeding and not assault.
“Epistaxis occurs as a result of low platelets count and in this case, this patient was not assaulted because she could not have continued bleeding for a long period. If she was assaulted, the clinicians would have not prescribed her Adrenaline packs and vitamin K to stop the bleeding but instead, [she]would have [been]given pain killers,” testified Dr Ziko.
But the state argued that the purported patient’s file, police OB and OPD records could not be trusted as it was possible for anyone to tamper with them.
The state further argued that it was the duty of clinicians to prescribe medication to patients and that the file from Kalomo Hospital was not credible evidence.
“The patient file before court does not state whether the victim was admitted on the material day and there is no official date stamp on the page where there is a date when the victim was attended to,” the state countered.
Where will the coin fall on May 20? In favour of the State or that of fellow Magistrate Subulwa?