The Blantyre Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday granted bail to two female guardians who are being accused of assaulting Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) nurse in the line of duty.

The two, Esnart Selemani, 53 and her daughter Yankho, 30, allegedly assaulted the nurse, Gertrude Moffat, in ward 5A after she asked them to leave the ward due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In his ruling, Senior Resident Magistrate Akya Mwanyongo, granted the two suspects a bail citing that keeping them further in custody is tantamount to obstruction of justice.

He has ordered each of the two accused persons to furnish the court with a K50,000 non-cash bail bond and also one surety each with K100,000 non-cash bond.

The two accused have also been ordered to surrender their travelling documents and be reporting to Blantyre Police Station every fortnight.

Meanwhile Mwanyongo has given the two sides representing the complainant and the defendants 7 days each to make their submissions.

The court is expected to convene after 14 days to make its ruling on whether the defendants have a case to answer or not.

Before the ruling, the state prosecutor, Isaac Kadawayula, paraded the final three of his six witnesses.

The defendants are being represented by Legal Aid Advocate Humphrey Panyanya.