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Walter Mswazie, Masvingo Correspondent
A 50-YEAR-OLD woman in Chiredzi allegedly connived with her husband and turned her 14-year-old orphaned niece into a sex slave.
The woman allegedly forced the Grade Six pupil at a local primary school to be intimate with her husband (48) resulting in the girl seeking refuge at Chiredzi Village Children’s Home.
Appearing before Chiredzi regional magistrate Mrs Judith Zuyu on Tuesday, Patson Marikano and her husband David Makunike of Hippo Valley Estates who were represented by Mr Charles Vhudzi of Zimbodza and Associates pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape.
The two were remanded in custody to Friday for continuation of trial. The pair denied the charges saying the teenage girl was fabricating the story in protest against the punishment she had received for her mischief. Marikano and Makunike said the girl had fled home to engage in prostitution and the rape allegation was meant to cover up her shenanigans.
For the state, Mr Liberty Hove said early last year the two allegedly went to collect the girl from her elderly aunt in Chimanimani under the guise that they wanted to stay with her while paying for her education in Chiredzi.
“In 2015 Marikano allegedly forced the girl to sleep with Makunike on a reed mat and told her that she was supposed to be intimate with her husband in return for school fees. Makunike would forcibly have sex with the girl under the watchful eye of Marikano almost every night,” Mr Hove told the court.
The court heard that Marikano would threaten to assault the girl if she dared cry. This went for some time until the girl sought sanctuary at a children’s home where she narrated what she had gone through. A report was made to the police leading to the two’s arrest.
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