Online Reporter
Dalyn Chigwizura,Court Reporter
A 21-year-old man from Bulawayo has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping his 14-year-old cousin sister.
The accused person from Old Pumula, whose name is withheld to protect the victim’s identity, appeared before Western Commonage regional magistrate Mr Pasipanodya Maturure, who convicted him of rape.
Mr Maturure, in passing his sentence, said the accused person is related to the complainant as he is her brother, and it is not allowed for them to have sexual intercourse.
He also said the victim is just 14 years old, and he had unprotected sex with her, risking her contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy.
Mr Maturure further stated that the accused raped the complainant at their place of residence, where she is supposed to feel safe because she is at home, and that as a brother, it was his duty to protect her, but he didn’t consider that.
For that reason, the rape was committed in aggravated circumstances, and whenever aggravated circumstances are included, it is 15 years in prison. He sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and, in his defense, stated that on that date, he knocked off from work and went on to drink beer with his friends and came back home around 9PM, not the time the complainant stated that he arrived home at 7PM.
He said the victim was disrespectful to him as she does not like it when he reprimands her.
“So, that friction between us has motivated her to fabricate these allegations against him,” he said.
Prosecuting, Ms Christina Manyika told the court that the incident occurred on October 14, 2025.
On that date, the complainant, who stays at the same residence as the accused person, was alone at home at around 7PM preparing dinner.
The court heard that as she was busy preparing dinner, the accused person entered the house and immediately ordered her to take off her clothes, which she denied.
When the accused person saw that she refused, he grabbed her, forcibly undressed her, and forced her to lie on the floor. He then raped her once without protection. After raping her, the accused person left her lying on the floor and went out, said Ms Manyika.
She further told the court that the complainant wrote a letter after the incident, narrating in brief what had happened.
After one week, the complainant’s grandmother, who was not present, returned home, and the complainant gave her the letter that she had written. The grandmother told the complainant to call her mother, who lives in another location, to come and read what she had written on the piece of paper. When the complainant’s mother came, she read the note and asked the complainant to explain further what she had written, and she disclosed the full details of what transpired.
After that the complainant was accompanied by her mother and grandmother to the police to make a report leading to the arrest of accused person. She was later referred to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical examination.
