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The judgment in the case of "Abdallah Athumani vs. Republic" from the Court of Appeal of Tanzania concerns an appeal against a conviction for incest. The appellant, Abdallah Athumani, was convicted for having prohibited sexual intercourse with his six-year-old daughter and sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment. The appeal challenged the conviction on several grounds, including the admissibility and reliability of evidence and procedural irregularities.
The court dismissed all grounds of appeal, upholding the conviction and sentence. The judgment also highlighted a significant point of law reform. It drew attention to the disproportionate nature of punishment under section 158 (1) (a) of the Penal Code, which prescribes a minimum penalty of thirty years' imprisonment for incest committed on a female person below eighteen years. The court suggested that this punishment is lenient compared to life imprisonment for similar offences under different sections of the Penal Code. The judgment thus calls for legislative reconsideration to address this disproportionality, particularly in cases of incest involving victims below ten years of age.
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Cited documents 4
Judgment 4
- Damian Ruhele vs Republic (Criminal Appeal 501 of 2007) [2012] TZCA 160 (2 March 2012)
- Edwin Thobias Paul vs Republic (Criminal Appeal 130 of 2017) [2018] TZCA 367 (10 May 2018)
- Issa Salum Nambaluka vs Republic (Criminal Appeal 272 of 2018) [2020] TZCA 10 (21 February 2020)
- Nyerere Nyague vs Republic (Criminal Appeal Case 67 of 2010) [2012] TZCA 103 (21 May 2012)