Chronicle Editor
Trish Mukwazo, [email protected]
A 41-year-old Tsholotsho man has been sentenced to an effective 20 years in jail for repeatedly raping his 13-year-old daughter since she was 10.
The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the victim’s identity, started raping his daughter in 2021.
The matter came to light sometime in July when the girl and her peers were taught about sexual abuse at school and that’s when it dawned on her that her father had been raping her.
She then told her teacher who accompanied her to the police station to report the matter.
The man, however, denied raping his daughter when he appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate, Mrs Dambudzo Malunga, claiming his daughter fabricated the story as a result of his disciplinary action after she stole textbooks at school.
The girl testified that her father was an abusive person who had assaulted her stepmother causing her to lose her sight. She said her father raped every time stepmother was not at home.
In mitigation, the man submitted that he has two wives and eight children that look up to him as the breadwinner.
In passing the sentence, Mrs Malunga noted that the man was a very abusive person, who even sexually abused his daughter.
“The victim made a report voluntarily without influence or coercion. The courts accept the victim’s version of events. The courts do not accept the offender’s assertion,” she said.
Prosecuting, Mr Owen Mugari said the man first raped his daughter sometime in 2021 at their homestead in Tsholotsho at around 5pm after her stepmother had fled following a misunderstanding.
“The offender then dragged the victim into his bedroom hut and forced her to lie on the bed facing up, stripped her and raped her,” said Mr Mugari.
The court heard that the father threatened to assault his daughter if she revealed the matter to anyone.
The father repeatedly raped his daughter on several occasions whenever her stepmother was away, the court heard.
The girl was referred to Tsholotsho District Hospital where she was medically examined and the medical report was produced in court as evidence.
Mr Mugari submitted that the man took advantage and raped his daughter instead of protecting her. He said the offender is an abusive man who assaulted his wife on several occasions and she would flee, affording him the chance to rape his daughter.
He noted that the girl attempted to commit suicide by drinking fertiliser as a result of the trauma that her father inflicted on her.
“The offender should be sentenced in a way that will send a message to society that the law will excessively punish those that turn their daughters into wives and sexually abuse them,” said Mr Mugari.
Online Reporter