admin
Fungai Lupande Mashonaland Central Bureau
A 45-year-old man from Mapendekete Village in Chiweshe will spend the next 20 years in jail for raping his nine-year-old biological daughter.
The minor is doing Grade 3.
He was sentenced by Bindura Magistrate Mr Amos Mbobo who said: “The complainant was traumatised and deeply pained by the abuse resulting in her always questioning whether the accused was her real biological father.”
The man pleaded not guilty but was convicted after a full trial due to overwhelming evidence.
The court heard that sometime in May, the man’s wife, stepmother to the complainant went to Bindura leaving the minor and her half-brother in the custody of their father.
At around 8pm, the children retired to bed and the father instructed the girl to sleep in the kitchen which had a metal door without a lock.
Her sibling slept in a spare bedroom.
At around midnight, the minor was awakened by the sound of the door being forcibly opened.
She lit her torch and saw her father entering the room whilst naked.
He went to where his daughter was sleeping and asked why she was still awake when her sibling was fast asleep.
She did not respond.
He was holding a nail cutter and said to the minor, “I want to do to you what I do with your mother and if you scream I will kill you.”
She curled into a ball and covered herself with a blanket while her father knelt beside her.
He then pushed her, forcing her to lie down before raping her.
He wiped her with a white towel and left the room.
The following day he took her to a local clinic where he told the nurses that she was feeling weak and tired.
On August 23, the complainant and her brother were attacked by a swarm of bees while the parents were at a polling station.
The stepmother informed the aunt about the incident and invited her to their home to see the complainant on September 4.
The complainant’s mother was bedridden in Centenary.
The aunt, a younger sister to the complainant’s biological mother arrived at the home and during the night went to sleep with the complainant.
The minor opened up about the sexual assault. The following day the father went to the Mukaradzi mining site.
The aunt asked the stepmother for permission to go back with the minor.
The matter was reported to the police leading to his arrest.
Online Reporter