36-year-old sentenced to 15 years for raping stepdaughter

A 36-YEAR-OLD man from Munyati in Kwekwe was sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping his seven-year-old stepdaughter.

The man from Chimona compound, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was convicted of rape by Kwekwe regional magistrate, Mr Musaiona Shotgame following a full trial.

In passing the sentence, Mr Shotgame condemned the accused’s actions, saying instead of protecting his daughter as a father, he betrayed the trust by abusing her.

“This is a serious crime committed by the accused who failed to uphold his role as a guardian and protector,” he said.

Prosecutor, Mr Malvern Nzombe told the court that the accused raped his stepdaughter on two separate occasions.

On the first count, the man was left to look after the minor when the mother went away.

“He made her sit on his lap and raped her before threatening to kill her together with her mother if she disclosed the matter to anyone,” said Mr Nzombe.

The court heard that on the second occasion, the man raped his stepdaughter again as her mother was sleeping in another room.

“The accused called the complainant into a kitchen and raped her before threatening to poison her food if she alerted anyone about the rape,” said Mr Nzombe.

The matter came to light when the girl complained of pain in her genital area while her mother was bathing her.

She quizzed her and the girl revealed that she had been raped by her stepfather. A report was made to the police leading to the man’s arrest.

Meanwhile, in another matter, a 22-year-old woman from Zhombe was sentenced to 15 years in jail for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.

Mr Shotgame convicted Artshestar Ziki from Chief Ntabeni area of aggravated indecent assault

The court heard that on June 30 at around 4pm, Ziki spotted the boy in the bush where he was herding cattle. She then lured the boy to her homestead on the pretext that she wanted to offer him a part-time gardening job.

“The accused led the minor into her bedroom where she purported to be keeping the tools which she wanted the complainant to use and the complainant complied,” said Mr Nzombe.

Upon entering the hut, Ziki closed the door and started touching the boy’s private parts before removing his clothes and sexually abusing him.

The boy reported the matter to his parents leading to Ziki’s arrest.