Andrew drew a deep breath, he closed his eyes trying to hide the tears in his eyes.

“Andrew”, he opened his eyes after his lawyer, Grace Kondowe, tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around the place, looking at the tall building standing firm in front of him. This was not his first time being here, but this time was different; it was about him.

“Will this work out in our favour? “, Andrew asked looking at his lawyer

“That will be for the judge to decide. However, I promise to give it my best”, Grace said with a weak smile. She knew it was going to be hard to win the case but she hoped that her ancestral spirits would help her turn the tables within the night.

They went in and took their sits, Grace couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to win against the plaintiff’s attorney who had only lost two cases in his entire career.

“All rise, this court is now in session”, the bailiff said as the judge walked in, “Judge Mary presiding, and please be seated”

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of Miss Susan Banda, a lecture at Mikuni University, who is suing Mr Andrew Natola, a student at the University, for sexual assault. Are both sides ready? “, the judge looked at the two lawyers

“Yes your Honour”, they answered

“Go ahead then”, the judge said

“Thank you your Honour”, Mr Edwin the plaintiff’s lawyer said, “The defendant has been charged with section 18 assault which involves wounding someone with intent. The evidence will prove that on Monday 19th of June 2020 this man here”, he said pointing at Andrew, “assaulted my client Miss Susan in her office”

“Your Honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client faces a serious offense, he is charged with assault and due to this his life and education is on the line. With the evidence I have, you will come to know that he has been wrongly accused, it is actually the opposite”

“Mmmmmmm”, the audience started murmuring

“Order!” said the bailiff

“My client went to Miss Susan’s office to submit his assignment that was due on Monday the 19th of June. Then she assaulted him and in attempt to save herself she twisted the truth”

“Plaintiff’s lawyer please bring in your first witness”, the judge said adjusting his glasses

“I call my client Miss Susan”, Mr Edwin said

“Please raise your right hand”, the bailiff said to Miss Susan, “do you swear to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but then truth”

“I do solemnly sincerely and truly declare that I shall speak of the truth and nothing but the truth”, Miss Susan swore to the court.

“Could you describe to the court what happened on the 19th of June 2020?”

“I was in my office when Mr Andrew came to submit his assignment. I asked him to leave it on the table, he then took a sit in front of me. I thought he wanted to ask about school stuff, then he asked ‘madam do you like me?’ and I thought it was one of those jokes students liked. ‘Yes’ that is what I said with a smile. He then stood up and came closer to me, ‘I like you a lot’ he said and I took a step back, he grabbed my waist and pushed me against his chest. I tried to free myself, ‘’don’t pretend like you don’t like this’’,he whispered to my ears as he forced his lips on mine. Then I slapped him, he got furious and chocked me on the neck. In the process of trying to free myself he tore my blouse exposing my chest area. Then someone knocked on the door”, Miss Susan said wiping her tears

“Defence lawyer would you like to cross examine the witness? “, the judge asked

“No your Honour”

“Plaintiff’s lawyer you may call your next witness”, the judge said

“I call Mr Ken, a fiancé to the plaintiff”

“Do you swear that the testimony you shall give in this case shall be the truth, the whole truth nothing but the truth, so God help me”, the bailiff said

“I do”

“Could you please tell the court what you noticed on your fiancée on the 19th of June 2020?”

“I noticed that her blouse was torn, her eyes were swole like she’d been crying and her neck had bruises. It looked like shed been attacked”, Mr Ken said

“That is all your Honour”, Mr Edwin said and took his sit

“Does the defence lawyer have questions for the witness? “, the judge asked

“Yes”, Grace said walking toward Mr Ken. “Mr Ken did you actually ask her what was wrong? “, she asked

“No”

“For someone who you love so dearly you can never bear seeing pain on them, how could you not ask her what had happened? “, she asked

“I thought it was wise to let her tell me herself of which she did the next morning”, he said

“Don’t you think she did not tell you the same day because your relationship is trembling at the moment and that is even why you hesitated to ask her what happened? “, she asked and he did not answer it looked like his thought were somewhere else

“Mr Ken I asked a question”

“No I .I don’t think so”, he answered with a crack in his voice

“No further question your Honour”, Grace said

“Defence lawyer you may present your first witness”, the judge said taking some notes

“I call my client Mr Andrew to the stand”

“Please raise your right hand”, the bailiff said, “Do you swear to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? “

“I do solemnly sincerely swear and truly declare that I shall speak of the truth and nothing but the truth”

“Please inform the court on what happened on 19th of June 2020”, Grace said

“I went to Miss Susan’s office to submit my assignment”, Andrew Sais

“Then what happened? “, Grace asked

“I was about to leave when she asked me to take a sit, I thought I’d done something wrong. Then she asked ‘do you like me?’ ‘How can I possibly like someone of your rank’ that is how replied, then she moved closer to me and said it’s okay to like her besides she was younger than me. She held my hand and I moved back, she was too fast she hugged me and kissed me on the neck. I pushed her so hard that she fell and hurt her knee”, he said

“Your Honour may I have your permission to look at her knee”, Grace said looking at the judge

“Objection your Honour, this is out of line”, Mr Edwin objected

“Objection overruled, you may proceed”, the judge said and the court witnessed the bruised knee of Miss Susan

“Then what happened next? “, the defence lawyer Grace asked

She got up and came closer again and asked; ‘‘Kodi you are not that interested in me?’’ and I said yes. I then pushed her aside so I could take my leave, this woman grabbed my t-shirt, I did not want to hurt her again so I pleaded with her to leave me”, he said

“And did she listen? “, Grace asked

“No instead she started caressing my neck and in the process of trying to stop her she kind of scratched me on the neck as you can see”, he said showing the court his bruised neck that looked like they’d been caused by nails. “She asked me to touch her and I refused then got so furious, I could not help it, I ended up slapping her. But I tell you this woman is psycho, she furiously kissed me and just as I was about to slap her again someone knocked on the door”

“That is all your Honour”, the defendant’s lawyer Grace said

“Plaintiff’s lawyer do you have questions for the witness? “, the judge asked.

“No.”

“You may call your second witness”

“I call Miss Mercy.”

“Please raise your right hand, do you swear to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God? “

“I do”

“Tell the court who you are”

“I am a student at Mikuni University. Andrew and I are classmates”

“What was it that you witnessed? “, Grace asked

“On Monday 19th of June, I went to submit my assignment. I was about to knock when I heard a noise coming from inside her office”

“What kind of noise? “, Grace asked

“Like they were arguing she was pleading with him to touch her”

“And what did he say? “

“He refused, he said he was not interested in touching her. I actually recorded their conversation. Not on purpose though, I was recording a voice note on Whatsapp”, she said handing her phone to Grace.

“Your Honour I request for your permission to play the voice note”

“Permission granted.”

“Touch me, please touch me. Do you not want to touch me? “, it was Miss Susan.

“Get away from me, I don’t want to touch you”, it was Andrew, he sounded furious.

There was murmuring in the audience, people started pointing fingers at Miss Susan

“One more thing”, Mercy said, “On miss Susan’s first day with us, she said something that got everyone confused. She said we should be free to talk to her, then she walked to where Andrew was and touched him on the shoulder and said; ‘‘muzitifunsirako osamaopa.’’

“I was just joking”, Miss Susan cried out.

“Order in the court!”, the bailiff said.

“No further questions, your Honour,” Grace said and took her sit.

“Mr Edwin do you have questions for the witness? “, the judge asked.

“Yes”, he said. “Miss Mercy, you couldn’t hear very well could you?” He asked.

“No sir it was very clear,” she said.

“Do you know that you can be charged with a crime of violating their privacy? “, he asked

“I believe I did the right thing because someone’s life depends on it”, she responded

“Could it be possible that you like the defendant and you are lying for his sake?” He asked.

“No.”

“As the saying says; all that glitters is not gold. Andrew is a very good-looking young man, every girls dream however his heart is not made of gold, there is an animal inside of him. And why else would you give false information? This clearly means you like him and you cannot bear to see him go to jail because you won’t see him for at least 14 years”

“Objection your Honour he’s leading the witness”, Grace objected.

“Objection sustained,” the judge said.

“No further questions, your Honour”, Mr Edwin said.

“This court is adjourned, we shall proceed after two hours for the ruling of the case”, the judge said and got up.

“All rise”, said the bailiff.