adminLuck, however, ran out for the old man when virginity tests at church revealed that the minors had been sexually abused.
The old man was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in jail after Harare regional magistrate Mrs Sandra Mupindu convicted him of two counts of rape.
Mrs Mupindu, however, set-aside three years on condition of good behaviour.
In passing the sentence, Mrs Mupindu said the accused breached the trust that was bestowed upon him by his grandchildren.
She added that he committed a serious offence which warranted a lengthy penalty.
“He is a first offender, but rape cases are on the increase and it will be a mockery of justice if he is not given a custodial sentence for his acts.
“The accused was in loco parentis at the time when he took advantage of the twin sisters who are also orphans. The grandchildren looked up to him as a parent.
“People like him are a danger to the society hence they should be sent to prison for a long time to enable them to be reformed,” she said.
Prosecutor Miss Junior Mugebe proved that sometime this year, the twins’ grandfather was ploughing in their soya bean field when the twins brought him food.
He then sent one of them to chase away some monkeys that were coming into the field.
The court heard that the grandfather ordered one of the girls who had remained behind with him to remove her clothes before raping her.
He threatened to beat her if she revealed the rape to anyone.
Using the same method, the accused raped the other twin in the same field.
He continued raping them on several different occasions.
The case, however, came to light on April 23 when the twins went to a church meeting with their grandfather and the church elders organised virginity tests on all the girls.
The elders questioned the girls when they discovered that they were no longer virgins prompting them to open up.
A report to the police was made leading to the arrest of the accused.
Online Reporter