Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku
A MAN from Makokoba suburb will rue the day he failed to control his sexual appetite and raped his niece (11) on countless occasions in his bedroom.
The 35-year-old man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Sibonginkosi Mkandla facing a rape charge.
He pleaded not guilty, saying: “I never raped her. I only played with her. I believe her parent is fixing me to see me being jailed.”
However, the court took a jaundiced view to the grown man playing bedroom games with a child.
Mnkandla meted out an 18-year sentence to give the monster ample time to reflect on the error of his ways, in the slammer. Hopefully, by the time he comes out, he will have learnt to choose playmates carefully and know that some games can only be played with consent and with someone who is more than 18 years old.
In a victim impact statement the guardian of the victim had people in the gallery shedding tears with a gutting description of the trauma the child is going through.
“At times the minor has nightmares and has developed an overwhelming fear for men. She casts a lonely and sorrowful figure, gone is the child’s playfulness and bubbly character. At times she sheds tears and her performance at school has gone down.”
In sentencing him the magistrate said: “You chose to heartlessly sexually attack the minor girl at her home which is her sanctuary. How do you think she would manage to live with that trauma and seeing the bedroom where you sexually attacked her? The age difference between you and the victim is big and you violated the trust the minor had in you. The rape was carried out in a prohibited degree of sexual intercourse.”
The court heard on a date not known to the prosecutor but sometime from March to May this year Mehluli would sneak into the minor’s room and have sexual intercourse with her. The matter came to light when the minor’s class teacher noticed that she was always dozing during lessons. The teacher sat her down and asked what was troubling her.
The minor revealed that her uncle disturbs her sleep as he has sexual intercourse with her during the night. A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the predator.
