Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran. He is the…
Alleged Zambian lesbians who are the targets of a police hunt. (Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog)
Police in Zambia have launched a nationwide hunt for a couple who are suspected of being lesbians, based on online photos of them posing together.
Another photo of the alleged Zambian lesbians who are the targets of a police hunt. (Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog)
Under Zambian law, people convicted of same-sex intimacy can be imprisoned for 15 years to life. Women convicted of “gross indecency” can be imprisoned for seven to 14 years.
But Zambian police are acting as though mere sexual attraction among women, rather than sexual intimacy, is a criminal offense. They also are acting as though online rumors are a valid basis for a nationwide appeal for help tracking down two women.
As a result of the police presumptions, today (Tuesday, Jan. 30) Zambian media reported:
Police in Lusaka are looking for a gay lesbian couple identified as Kachana and Grace Tembo.
The couple have been flaunting their relationship and intimate pictures on social media.
Homosexuality is an offence in Zambia under indecent and laws prohibiting unnatural acts. …
Police launch investigations into the case of two Zambian Lesbians
A third photo of the alleged Zambian lesbians who are the targets of a police hunt. (Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog)
The Zambia Police Service says officers are looking for the two ladies whose pictures went viral on social media alongside a story purporting that they are in an intimate relationship.
In a statement, Tuesday, Police Spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo asked anyone with relevant information which could lead to the arrest of the two ladies to come forward.
Police spokesperson Ester Katongo … says Police officers from the Cybercrime unit have since instituted investigations in the matter involving the two girls.
She has appealed to people with information that may be helpful in the investigations to report to any nearest Police Station so that perpetrators are brought to book.
This is the Zambia police statement:
Esther Katongo, public relations officer for Zambian Police. (Photo courtesy of Lusaka Times)
LUSAKA, 30TH JANUARY, 2018 – There is a picture trending on social media where two girls are reported to have been in an intimate relationship.
In Zambia, it is an offence for people of the same sex to engage in an intimate relationship or sexual affair .
Section158 subsection 1 and 2 of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia addresses Indescent Practices between Persons of same sex. Section 158 (2) states that ” Any female who, whether in public or private , commits any act of gross indecency with a female child or person , or procures a female child or person to commit any act of gross indecency with her , or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any female person with herself or another female child or person whether in public or private, commits a felony.”
Any person convicted of this offence is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and a maximum sentence of fourteen years.
Further, section 155 (a) of the Penal Code under Unnatural Offences, criminalises canal knowledge against the order of nature and anyone found guilty is liable to imprisonment for a term not less than fifteen years while the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
I wish to state that Police Officers have taken keen interest in the story and pictures circulating in which two girls are reported to have been having an intimate relashionship. Officers from Cybercrime unit have instituted investigations in the matter. We therefore call upon people with information that may be helpful in the investigations to report to any nearest Police Station so that perpetrators are brought to book.
— ESTHER MWAATA KATONGO, ZAMBIA POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
Shame on you, as if they were having sex with dozens of men, getting pregnant and becoming a human breeding machine, would you be admiring them and giving them rewards of honor ? But two consenting adults who are practicing love and commitment with no more children brought into this world in your shithole country as per Trump, to suffer under poverty, should be left alone. Is it a crime to show love for another person, verses an abuser ?
Shame on you, as if they were having sex with dozens of men, getting pregnant and becoming a human breeding machine, would you be admiring them and giving them rewards of honor ? But two consenting adults who are practicing love and commitment with no more children brought into this world in your shithole country as per Trump, to suffer under poverty, should be left alone. Is it a crime to show love for another person, verses an abuser ?