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Zibusiso Moyo
A MAN from Nkayi was arrested after he raped and deflowered his 10-year-old niece after he was asked to babysit the minor.
The man raped the minor while her mother and grandmother were away at a family gathering and the two were left alone at home.
B-Metro caught up with one of the relatives who said the family knew of the incident but had agreed to sweep the matter under the carpet.
“We were aware that the incident actually happened but we had agreed as family to bury the issue as we were trying to protect our daughter,” said a family member.
The matter came to light when the minor fell sick.
The minor revealed the ordeal when she developed abdominal pain and had vaginal discharge.
He appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Sibonginkosi Mnkandla who remanded him in custody for commencement of trial.
However, the accused denied charges of rape stating that the minor had initially identified someone else as the one who had raped her.
“I do not admit to these allegations. Why did she first accuse someone else when she knew l was the one who had raped her,” said the man.
“Someone in the family pressured her to say that it was me who raped her,” he added.
The minor had told her mother that the accused dragged her into her grandmother’s bedroom and when she tried to scream, he threatened to assault her for making noise.
When the minor asked why he was dragging her, he claimed “he wanted her to take some sugar in the room and make him some tea”.
When they got into the room, the court heard that the accused pushed the minor onto the bed and undressed her.
‘’He raped her once.’’
After the act, he told her niece to put on her clothes and not disclose the matter to anyone.
She told her mother about the rape after she had been taken to the nearest clinic for tests.
A report was made and the man was apprehended.
derick.khumalo