Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, [email protected]
A 21-year-old herdsman in the Zezani area of Beitbridge District has been jailed for an effective 12 months for attempting to rape his employer’s 14-year-old granddaughter.
Happiness Mashanda was arrested after he attempted to rape the complainant several times in December last year.
He was convicted of attempted rape and indecent assault when he appeared before Beitbridge resident magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba on Thursday.
Prosecuting, Ronald Mugwagwa told the court that the incidents began in early December, when Mashanda, who was employed to tend cattle at the family homestead, found the complainant sitting alone in the house. He tried to kiss her and offered her R20, but she refused.
“On another day, the accused found the complainant cleaning her room and grabbed her by the waist from behind and the complainant wrestled with him and managed to push him away,” he said.
The court heard that the assault escalated on December 31. Around midnight, the girl went to sleep in her room but awoke to Mashanda touching her private parts and trying to remove her undergarment.
She screamed for help, prompting him to flee.
She later told her aunt, who reported the matter to police, leading to Mashanda’s arrest.
