Vusumuzi Dube
Caroline Mutsawu in Hwange
A 30-year-old man from Gokwe appeared at the Hwange Magistrates Court last Thursday facing two counts of raping his employer’s seven-year-old granddaughter.
The accused resides in Marigano Village, Chief Jiri in Gokwe but was employed as a domestic worker in Binga. He appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Mr Collet Ncube who remanded him in custody for sentencing tomorrow.
The State’s case as presented by the prosecutor, Mrs Charline Gorerino is that sometime in August this year, the accused’s employers left him at their homestead with three of their grandchildren, the eldest being 16 years old.
On 17 August at about 7pm, the accused called his employer’s granddaughter who was in the kitchen and is in Grade Two. When she went to where he was, he grabbed her, covered her mouth and dragged her to the bathroom where he allegedly raped her once.
He instructed the juvenile not to tell anyone about what he had done but one of the grandchildren had seen him raping her and kept quiet. The complainant is said to have reported the incident to the 16-year-old but somehow, she did not take her seriously.
The following day at about 10am the accused called the juvenile from the kitchen again and dragged her to the bathroom where he raped her. The girl reported the incident to the 16-year-old girl again and the witness in the previous case confirmed seeing the accused raping the complainant.
The children divulged the information to their grandparents when they returned who then reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused. The complainant was medically examined and a medical report will be produced in court as exhibit. – @5_Shannico
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter