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Thupeyo Muleya-Beitbridge Bureau
A Beitbridge regional court has convicted a 53-year-old cross-border transporter on two counts of raping his daughter between 2020 and 2023 for allegedly ritual purposes.
The man was, however, found not guilty of the second count of rape but was convicted of indecent assault.
A few weeks ago the man had his bid to stop the trial thrown out by Regional Magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura.
The accused is alleged to have started raping the teenager in August 2020, from the age of 13, until she fell pregnant at the age of 16, last year.
The matter has been set for pre-trial this afternoon.
Through his lawyer, Mr Muchineripi Nhire, the cross-border transporter denied all the charges.
The man is accused of raping his daughter from the previous marriage and colluding with his new wife to illegally abort the pregnancy in December last year.
The 47-year-old stepmother has already been jailed for four years by a local magistrate for causing the illegal abortion.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter