Man (77) jailed for rape

Nyaradzo Bakari, Chronicle Reporter
A 77-YEAR-OLD man from Nkayi’s Mateme area has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for raping his neighbour’s 13-year-old granddaughter twice.

The man who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, raped the girl between 2014 and 2017.

Bulawayo regional magistrate Mr Joseph Mabeza heard that the girl reported the ordeal to her grandmother but she ignored her. The matter only came to light when the juvenile told her aunt who accompanied her to the police to make a report. The man pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape before Mr Mabeza.

The magistrate, however, convicted him on both counts and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

The man will however serve an effective seven years in prison after three years were suspended on condition of good behaviour. “The court considers that you are a first offender and that you are a family man but rape is a serious crime. What is aggravating in this case is that the accused and the complainant have a relationship. The accused is a neighbour and is close to the complainant’s grandmother. There is an age difference of 64 years between the accused and the complainant, making her his granddaughter,” he said.

Mr Simbarashe Manyiwa appeared for the state. — @NyarieBakie