adminMidlands Correspondent
A 30-YEAR-OLD man from Gokwe South who deflowered his teenage stepdaughter and infected her with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) has been sentenced 30 years in prison. The man, from Mawire village under Chief Njelele, had pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape when he appeared before Gokwe Regional Magistrate, Amos Mbobo.
Mbobo convicted the man of rape due to overwhelming evidence after a full trial before sentencing him to 30 years in jail.
The man will, however, serve 20 years after 10 years were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Appearing for the state, Robert Ndlala said sometime in June last year on a date unknown to the court, the man raped his stepdaughter three times at knife point while her mother was away.
The court heard that the man seized the opportunity to rape when the girl’s mother visited South Africa leaving the juvenile in his custody.
Ndlala said on one incident, the man went to the girl’s bedroom hut armed with a knife and forcibly removed her clothes before raping her once.
The court also heard that the man used the same modus operandi to rape the complainant on two other occasions during the same month.
He threatened to kill the girl if she told anyone about the matter.
The matter came to light when the girl’s grandmother visited them during the same month and discovered that the girl had contracted an STI.
She was interrogated and implicated her stepfather.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the man’s arrest.
Online Reporter