Engagement Ceremony Earns Prison Sentence

GayRVA Staff
GayRVA Staff
October 27, 2010

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In May of 2010, two young men named Steven Mojenza, and Timonge Chimbalonga were convicted in a Malawian court. Their crime was professing their love for one another in a traditional engagement ceremony.

The couple was arrested in their home in December of 2009 and were jailed until their trail.

Because homosexuality is illegal in Malawi, the judge sentenced both men to 14 years imprisonment with hard labor.

International reaction was swift with human rights groups outraged by the ruling. Amnesty International reported the men were beaten by police while in custody. Malawian protestant churches want the government to uphold the colonial-era sodomy laws and ban homosexuality which faith leaders describe as “un-Christian.”