Dad convicted of raping daughter (9)

Thupeyo Muleya

Beitbridge Bureau

A FIFTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD man from Tshinwanyani area in Beitbridge has been convicted of raping his nine-year-old daughter after taking advantage of his wife’s absence.

The man, who cannot be named for fear of exposing the victim, had pleaded not guilty to the charge before Beitbridge regional magistrate, Mr Innocent Bepura.

He was, however, convicted on the strength of the State’s evidence and will be back in court on Monday for sentencing.

Prosecutor Ms Tsitsi Mutukwa told the court that the accused raped his daughter at their home in the Todi area while the victim’s mother was away.

The court heard that the man and his daughter were sleeping in the same room and sharing blankets and sometime in June this year, the man woke up and raped his daughter once.

Later that month a relative living in the same area realised that the man and his daughter were sleeping in the same room and sharing blankets and she informed the mother.

On August 19, the mother took the victim to her grandmother’s house where she was asked about the sleeping arrangements.

The victim then disclosed the rape incident and the matter was reported to the police resulting in the man’s arrest.

Recently, another 53-year-old Beitbridge man was jailed for 42 years for raping his biological daughter for three years until she fell pregnant.

The man started raping the teenager from August 2020 when she was 13 until she fell pregnant last year at the age of 16.

This week the police arrested a 67-year-old man for raping his granddaughter. The man is expected to appear in court next week.