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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
A MAN from Kezi has been jailed for 16 years for raping his neighbour’s nine-year-old daughter on two separate occasions while she was in the company of her friends.
The man pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape when he appeared before Gwanda regional magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira, but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison and four years were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years. He will serve an effective 11 years.
The court heard that the complainant’s grandmother covered up the rape until the girl told her teacher and the matter was reported to the police. In his defence, the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, denied the charges and accused the complainant’s family of fabricating the allegations.
“I deny both charges because I don’t know the complainant and I have never seen her. Her family has fabricated the allegations against me. If I indeed raped her as alleged then she was supposed to sustain some injuries as she is a young child,” he said.
Prosecuting, Mr Mncedisi Dube said the accused person raped the complainant in April this year.
“Sometime in April the complainant was sent by her grandmother to the fields to scare away birds. She was accompanied by her two friends aged eight and 10-years-old. He found the three children in the fields and approached them and they ran away in different directions,” said Mr Dube. “He pursued the complainant and caught up with her. He pinned her to the ground, removed her underwear and raped her before leaving her at the scene. The complainant reported the matter to her grandmother but she didn’t do anything about it.”
Mr Dube said later during the same month, the complainant was playing with her friends at a stream near her home. He said the accused person approached the children and chased after them until he caught up with the complainant. Mr Dube said he dragged the complainant into a bushy area and raped her. He said the complainant again reported the matter to her grandmother but she did not do anything about it.
He said the complainant later told her school teacher that she had been raped and the matter was reported to the police. – @DubeMatutu
Online Reporter