U.S. pop star Madonna (2nd R) leaves a classroom holding her adopted Malawian son David Banda at a school she financed, some 50 km south of Malawi's capital Lilongwe, March 30, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters]

The Malawi High Court sitting in Lilongwe has rejected the request made by American pop star Madonna to adopt a second child from the southern African nation, the Nation reported on Saturday.

Madonna, who was already granted full adoption of two-year-old boy David Banda last year, was applying for adoption of another Malawian child, a three-year orphan called Mercy James whose 14-year-old mother died when giving birth to her.

Justice Esmie Chombo ruled that Madonna was not qualified to adopt the child because she was not a resident of Malawi as required by the country's law, adding that the pop star only jetted into the country during the weekend just days prior to the hearing of her adoption application.

She added that while there was a felt need to open a window for inter-country adoption there was clearly felt tension between the rights of the child to adequate welfare and the need to protect the subject of the adoption.

Justice Chombo observed that by removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect the country's children, the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate trafficking of children by unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the weakness of the country's law.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2009)