adminMasvingo Correspondent
A 75-YEAR-OLD Bikita man was slapped with an effective 30 years in jail for raping his 14-year-old disabled great granddaughter. The man from Mukanganwi Village under Chief Mukanganwi took advantage of the girl’s condition and raped her on three different occasions when her mother was away.
The man was convicted on his own plea of guilty to three counts of rape when he appeared before Masvingo regional magistrate Lyn-Marry Manyika on Wednesday.
He was sentenced to 12 years on each count of which two years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
In mitigation, the man blamed evil spirits for driving him to rape. “My worship, it is true that I raped the minor but verily I do not have a particular reason for committing this crime. I think it is the work of evil spirits,” said the man leaving the gallery in stitches.
Manyika heard how the man would rape the innocent girl in the absence of her mother.
The man, who ist he grandfather of the girl’s mother, would visit the woman’s homestead every time she was away. He would call the complainant into the kitchen where he would rape her.
He would do it on several occasions but the mother said her daughter spoke of three occasions.
Prosecuting Sophia Busvumani told the court that between November, 2013 and January, 2014 the accused would on several occasions visit his widowed granddaughter.
The court heard that on the first occasion, the accused visited and found the mother at home.
The woman who did not suspect any foul play left the girl at the mercy of the accused.
The court heard that he led the complainant to a kitchen where he raped her once.
On the second occasion sometime in December, 2013, the man arrived home and found the girl alone.
He grabbed her by the hand and used the same modus operandi to rape her before returning to his homestead in the same village.
On the third occasion sometime in January this year the man was not lucky as he was spotted by other villagers suspiciously holding the complainant’s hand.
The court heard that a neighbour went into the homestead looking for the girl’s mother but found the man coming from the kitchen, zipping his trousers.
The neighbour is said to have entered the kitchen where the man was coming from and it was when she saw the girl lying face down.
She tried to communicate with the girl but the two could not understand each other but there were signs that the girl had been sexually abused.
After a few minutes at around 4pm the mother arrived and the neighbour told her what she had witnessed leading to the mother questioning her daughter. The daughter narrated to her mother what had taken place and she examined her.
She made a report to the police leading to the arrest of the accused.
Online Reporter