adminThandeka Moyo Court Reporter
A 14-YEAR-OLD juvenile spent five years in remand prison awaiting trial for a rape he committed in 2008. Alpha Ncube, now aged 19, pleaded guilty to one count of raping a three-year-old neighbour’s daughter when he appeared before senior Bulawayo magistrate Trynos Utahwashe on Wednesday.Prosecutors say Ncube raped the girl, now eight — after she was left in the custody of a visually impaired person on July 22, 2008.
“The accused who is now aged 19 pleaded guilty to a charge of raping an eight-year-old girl. By pleading guilty to the charge, he has shown genuine remorse.
“There is no doubt this crime cannot be tolerated and calls for effective sentence,” Utahwashe said.
“However, the behaviour by the State in delaying to bring him for trial cannot be condoned. The accused is therefore sentenced to five years in prison which are wholly suspended on condition he does not commit a sexual crime within that period.
“If he commits the crime he will be imprisoned without an option of a fine.”
Prosecuting, Robin Makura told how on the fateful day around 9AM the complainant was left in the custody of a blind person at Ncube’s home while her mother went to a nearby clinic.
Ncube who was doing Grade Seven at Kapamo Primary School in Tsholotsho came from school and went into a bedroom hut where he found the toddler playing.
He then forced her to lie on the bed facing upwards and raped her.
The girl screamed for help and started crying while Ncube continued molesting her with no one coming to her rescue.
Ncube later set his victim free and left her crying. The girl’s mother noticed injuries on her privates and upon interviewing her, the girl disclosed she had been raped.
An exhibit read in court shows the girl sustained a torn hymen and ripped libia.
Through the Legal Resources Foundation, Ncube had applied for the case to be determined by the Constitutional Court in December last year, saying he was supposed to be sentenced while he was still a juvenile.
“The accused person for unknown reasons was not put to trial to answer to the charges until later in 2013, five years after being accused of committing the offence,” reads part of the application.
“At the time the accused person is alleged to have committed the offence, he was still very young, at 14. If found guilty, he would have served his sentence.”
Online Reporter