Rampi v. Rampi

The applicant was separated in her marriage and sought to regain custody of the child she had lost to her husband, the respondent. A lower court granted the respondent custody of the child on the grounds that he had paid lobola to marry the applicant and customary law therefore entitled him to the child. After delaying to comply with the court’s order and attempting to seek relief from another court, the applicant was found guilty of contempt for fighting to keep her child. She was sentenced to five working days in civil prison. The High Court of Malawi in reviewing the case held that the child must be returned to the custody of the applicant. The High Court explained that the lower court had erred by defaulting to customary law rather than hearing the arguments of both parties to determine the best interest of the child when determining custody. Moreover, that the lower court was unnecessarily harsh to sentence the applicant to civil prison without considering a fine as her punishment for an act as reasonable as fighting to keep her child.