Online Reporter
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu [email protected]
A 42-YEAR-OLD Gwanda man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for raping his intellectually challenged sister-in-law on two separate occasions last year.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was convicted of rape by Gwanda regional magistrate Mrs Sithembiso Ndebele following a full trial.
The court heard that the 24-year-old complainant was sexually assaulted twice in June last year after the man targeted her while she was alone.
Prosecuting, Mr Ngonidzashe Shumba said the first incident occurred when the complainant was walking home from her aunt’s homestead.
“Sometime in June last year, the complainant was on her way home from her aunt’s home when she met the accused person, who greeted her. The accused proposed love to the complainant, but she refused and they parted ways,” said Mr Shumba.
The court heard that the man later followed the woman, dragged her into a bushy area and raped her before fleeing from the scene.
Out of fear and due to her condition, the complainant did not immediately report the matter to anyone upon returning home.
Mr Shumba said a few days later, the man struck again after finding the complainant alone at her homestead.
“The accused person entered the complainant’s home and again proposed love to her. The complainant refused, but the accused ordered her to accompany him to the kitchen hut on the pretext that she should prepare food for him and she complied,” he said.
While inside the kitchen hut, he grabbed the complainant, pinned her to the floor and raped her.
“After committing the offence, the accused warned the complainant against reporting the matter before leaving the homestead,” said Mr Shumba.
The abuse only came to light on 25 June after the complainant’s grandmother asked her to visit her sister’s homestead. The complainant refused, saying her sister’s husband would hurt her.
The grandmother became suspicious and further questioned the complainant, who eventually disclosed the rape.
A police report was subsequently filed, leading to the man’s arrest.
-@DubeMatutu
Bongani Ndlovu