admin
Mashudu Mambo
A 67-YEAR-OLD man from Kennilworth area, Nyathi in Matabeleland North province has been slapped with an effective 15-year jail sentence after he raped a 14-year-old juvenile and gave her R200 to buy her silence.
Amos Hadebe pleaded not guilty to the charges before Bulawayo regional magistrate Joseph Mabeza.
He was however, found guilty and sentenced. The state was represented by Dominic Moyo who stated that the offence was committed under aggravating circumstances.
“The accused is more than 50 years older than the victim and it is disgusting that at his age he wanted sexual gratification from a 14-year-old child.
The complainant was not only a neighbour but someone whom the victim looked up to as a guardian in the community,” he said
The court heard that on 6 March 2019 at around 3pm, the victim went to fetch water at a nearby river leaving behind Hadebe who was talking to her parents at her homestead.
Hadebe then followed the victim to the river and when he got there, he called the victim to a nearby bush and she complied.
She went to him without suspecting anything and Hadebe grabbed her with his left hand and demanded to have sexual intercourse with her, but she declined.
He then overpowered her, undressed her and raped her once with protection. After the act, he then gave her R200 to buy her silence.
The victim did not disclose the matter and took the money. On 16 March, she then told her younger sister that she had some money and the sister informed the victim’s mother who then enquired on how she had got the money.
The juvenile refused to disclose the issue until she was taken to her grandmother where she narrated the whole ordeal.
On the same day, the victim’s grandmother accompanied her to the police station to report the matter and investigations were carried out leading to the arrest of Hadebe.
Online Reporter