adminMncedisi Buhali Sunday News Reporter
A 63-YEAR-OLD Binga man raped a nine-year-old girl from Makokoba at a Bulawayo cemetery, before choking her and leaving her unconscious. Elias Siampande is said to have met the girl and asked her to assist him carry bread to his house but instead of going to his place of residence, walked with the girl to a bushy area at West Park Cemetery.
Siampande appeared before senior regional magistrate Mr Trynos Utawashe facing rape charges.
Mr Utawashe sentenced Siampande to 18 years imprisonment, suspending four years for five years on condition that the accused does not commit a crime in which sexual misconduct is an element.
In delivering his judgment, Mr Utawashe said Siampande was supposed to act as a father to the little girl and was supposed to be ashamed of himself.
“Cases of child sexual abuse have increased of late due to people who behave like beasts in the communities,” said Mr Utawashe.
“Such people must be stopped, and for a 63-year-old man to commit such a crime is a shameful thing because he is supposed to be teaching and counselling his children and grandchildren and not going around committing crimes that are not meant to be committed by elderly man like him.”
It is the State’s case that on 27 December 2014, the minor met Siampande at Madlodlo Beer Garden at 5pm where he asked her to help him carry his loaves of bread to his house, and the little girl agreed.
Prosecutor Ms Liane Nkomo told the court that Siampande raped the girl once and she screamed due to the pain.
He said Siampande is said to have choked the child until she lost consciousness and left her at the cemetery.
Court papers reveal that the child gained consciousness around midnight when she discovered that the accused had disappeared from the scene.
Confused, the child walked towards town where she met someone who showed her the way to Makokoba suburb.
The child narrated the story to her mother, leading to the arrest of Siampande whom the child clearly identified.
Online Reporter