Online Reporter
Trish Mukwazo, [email protected]
A 51-year-old Inyathi man has been sentenced to 40 years effective imprisonment for raping his 14-year-old daughter on two separate occasions while her mother was absent from their home.
The man, from Trigen Village in Inyathi, was convicted yesterday on two counts of rape, despite pleading not guilty, by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Dambudzo Malunga. The State presented evidence from two witnesses: the victim and her mother.
In delivering her sentence, Malunga noted that the victim’s medical report confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. She emphasised the offender’s extreme cruelty towards his daughter.
“He is the one who introduced sex to his biological daughter, which is atrocious. He now regards the victim as his wife, which is unheard of in our African culture,” Malunga stated.
Malunga also highlighted that the offender threatened to kill the victim after each incident.
“Instead of protecting her, he elected himself as the sexual abuser of the child,” she said.
She added that the court would grant the victim her wish for a lengthy custodial sentence.
“To afford the victim to grow well without abuse from her father, he is accordingly sentenced to 40 effective years in prison for both counts,” Malunga ruled.
The offender denied the allegations, claiming they were fabricated by the victim after he reprimanded her and struck her with a whip for returning home late from school. He expressed shock at his subsequent arrest for rape.
Prosecutor Owen Mugari stated that the first incident occurred in early February at their homestead. The offender called the victim into his room when she was alone in the kitchen.
“The accused called the complainant into his bedroom, closed the door, grabbed her hand, and pulled her closer. He forced her to lie on the floor, stripped her and himself, and then raped her,” Mugari recounted.
The court heard that the offender threatened to kill the victim and dispose of her body in a mineshaft if she told anyone.
The second incident occurred on February 10th at approximately 1pm when the offender found his daughter alone and summoned her to his room to retrieve his clothes.
“The complainant gave the accused his trousers, and the accused grabbed her, laid her on the floor, stripped her and himself, and raped her,” said Mugari.
The court heard that, as before, the offender threatened to kill her if she revealed the assault. The matter came to light on February 14 after the victim confided in her mother, and they reported the incident to Inyathi Police Station.
