Herdsman jailed 12 years for rape

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
A 22-YEAR-OLD herdsman from Filabusi has been jailed for 12 years for raping his employer’s granddaughter on three occasions after she was left in his custody.

The man from Sibambene Village in Filabusi who cannot be named to protect his victim pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence by Gwanda regional magistrate, Mrs Sibonginkosi Mkandla.

He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment of which three years were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.

Prosecuting, Mr Khumbulani Nyoni said:

“On a date unknown but in 2019 the complainant was left by her grandfather under the custody of the accused person. He took advantage and called the complainant to his bedroom where he ordered her to remove her underwear and lie on the ground. The accused person then raped the complainant and gave her $2 to buy her silence. He also threatened to assault the complainant if she revealed the matter to anyone.”

“The following day while the accused person was alone at home with the complainant, he called her to his bedroom where he raped her again. He gave her some sugarcane in order to buy her silence and the complainant remained quiet.”

Mr Nyoni said on another day unknown to the prosecutor the accused person was alone with the complainant when he called her to his bedroom. He raped her and gave her $3 in order to buy her silence and also threatened to assault her if she revealed the matter to anyone.

Mr Nyoni said the complainant later went to stay with her aunt in another village. He said on February 12 this year the complainant narrated to her aunt what the accused person had done to her while they were staying together. The matter was reported to the police resulting in the arrest of the accused person. — @DubeMatutu