adminThe court considered that he took advantage of the absence of his wife to rape the girl who looked up to him as her father, leaving her traumatised.
Sentencing the man, the magistrate said a long custodial sentence was the most appropriate to send a message to all would-be offenders and to protect the girl child.
The State’s case was that sometime in February last year, the man, who had two wives and five children, asked the little girl to accompany him to the fields to collect green mealies.
While at the field, he ordered the girl to go and collect the cobs but he followed and ordered her to lie down so that he could have sex with her.
When the girl refused, the man removed his shirt and spread it on the ground before tripping and making her lie on it.
He then raped her once but was disturbed by the girl’s mother who caught him red-handed while raping the girl.
The girl’s mother reported the matter to the village head where she was referred to the headman.
She then went to a Neighbourhood Watch Committee member in the village who advised her to consult elderly women to examine the girl, and two women did so and said the girl had not been penetrated.
The offence only came to light when the girl’s mother insisted on having her daughter re-examined and the matter was reported to the police.
The girl was referred to Binga District Hospital where it was confirmed she had been raped.
The man told the court that he did not rape the girl, but was only urinating in her presence when his wife arrived. The wife was invited to testify against her husband in court and the court ruled that she gave an honest testimony proving that her husband raped the girl.
Ms Memory Munsaka prosecuted.
Online Reporter