The High Court Sittings in Mansa District in Luapula Province has sentenced a 27 year old woman to three years suspended sentence for Unlawful Abortion.
Before Ndola High Court Judge was Nancy Kunda a peasant farmer of Chabala Village in Chief Kasoma Lwela’s Chiefdom in Chembe District who was charged with Abortion contrary to section 152(1) of the penal code of the Laws of Zambia.
Facts before the court were that on May 4, 2018 Kunda being a mother of five children terminated her two month old pregnancy unlawfully using a cassava stick.
Kunda decided to abort the pregnancy after discovering that her youngest one year old daughter was becoming sickly which is traditionally believed in the region to have been caused by the pregnancy.
The Court heard that it was then that she inserted a cassava stick which contributed to the abortion after she was taken to Chembe Rural Health Centre where the cassava stick was removed from her cervix.
Kunda was thereby arrested by Police in Chembe and charged for the charged offence of abortion by pregnant woman.
In mitigation, Kunda through her legal Aid Lawyer pleaded with the court for leniency as she was the first offender who readily admitted the charge and that she was remorseful of her actions.
Passing her sentence, Judge Chembe said she took into consideration her mitigation and that she was a first offender who deserved some leniency but that the crime she committed cannot go unpunished.
She then slap Kunda with a three year suspended sentence with effect from the date of arrest.
If government can not guarantee proper standard of living for this womans children, they do not have a right to judge her for the abortion.Whilst abortion is wrong it is equally wrong to deny poor Zambians access to Health, education and food which will inadvertently lead to premature death of Zambian children as seen by high infant and maternal mortality rate in Zambia.This is where Womens groups should stand up for this vulnerable woman.
Heeeeesh, poverty is dangerous. Cassava stick is rough thing.
Husband should take responsibility. You can’t impregnant woman annual. At 27 yrs she already has 5.
And yet slay queens can abort at will, no one touches them.
Justice is blind.
Half of the women in Zambia have had abortions. What kind of nonsense is this? Why isn’t the man who impregnated her in prisoner as well?
Supposing she had killed a three year old? Or even her mother or neighbor? Would she have been sentenced to 3 years suspended sentence? Is life different?
It’s a catch 22 situation.
Abortion cannot be a crime in a country that allows smacking children. You may thin there is no relation but there actually is.
Ok Judge she did something very bad, she got other kids to care of and hopefully a suspend sentence can be looked into. Five year probation can be much more effective. PF cadres only spends one night jail.
I don’t think she should be locked up for this.