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Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
A 20-year-old man from Ndambe Village in Beitbridge has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old Form Three pupil who had rejected his love proposal.
Dominic Chirenje denied the charges when the trial opened before Beitbridge regional magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa.
However, Ms Maphosa convicted him on Thursday due to the strength of the State’s evidence.
The magistrate imposed a 15-year effective sentence after conditionally suspending three years of his initial 18-year term.
Prosecutor Miss Tsitsi Mtukwa said on July 31 last year, there was a livestock sales show at Jam Farm, and both the complainant and the accused attended.
Later that evening around 9pm, Chirenje proposed to the complainant, but she turned him down.
At approximately 9:30pm as the girl and her friends were leaving the farm to head home, the accused followed them.
When he caught up with them, he ordered the girl’s friends to go home and kidnapped her.
The court further heard that after traveling for close to 5 km in his donkey-pulled cart, Chirenje stopped the wagon, dragged the girl into the bushes, and raped her before disappearing from the scene, leaving her behind.
The complainant managed to get home and reported the incident to the police the following day.
Online Reporter