Man jailed 18 years for raping cousin (5)

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A 39-YEAR-OLD man from Zezani area under Chief Tshitaudze in Beitbridge was on Tuesday jailed for an effective 18 years for raping and infecting his five-year-old cousin with a sexually transmitted infection.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, denied two charges of rape when his trial opened before Beitbridge regional magistrate Mr Willard Maphios Moyo.

However, he was convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence led by the State.

The accused was left with an effective 18 years imprisonment after Mr Moyo conditionally suspended two years of the 20-year jail term for five years.

Prosecuting, Miss Tsitsi Mtukwa told the court that sometime in May this year and in the afternoon, the accused who was alone with the minor took her to his room and raped her once.

She said on another date unknown to the State but in the same month, the man sexually abused the minor using the same method.

The court further heard that the matter came to light on May 21 when the girl’s mother discovered genital warts while bathing the minor.

The State said the woman then asked the minor about the source of the infection in the presence of her aunt and she narrated her ordeal at the hands of her cousin.

A report was in turn made to the police, resulting in the accused’s arrest.