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Kimberley Chitambara, [email protected]
A 23-year-old Bulawayo man has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping his neighbour’s eight year-old girl.
The accused person who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity and is from Emakhandeni suburb appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira, and was convicted of a raping a juvenile as defined in Section 65 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
In passing the sentence the magistrate said what aggravates the offence is the age difference between the accused person and the complainant, which is 15 years and also that the accused person is the neighbour to the complainant who was supposed to protect the child but instead ended up abusing her.
Mr Dzira then slapped the accused person with 15 years in prison.
Prosecuting, Mr Jethro Mada told the court that on February 25 at around 12 noon the complainant was passing by the accused person’s gate and the accused called her and she went to him.
He then asked her to get into the house and she refused. The accused person grabbed the girl and pushed her into the room and onto the bed, the court heard.
“The accused person lifted the complainant’s dress up and raped her once without protection,” said Mr Mada.
After the incident the accused threatened to stab the complainant with a knife if she disclosed the matter before letting her go.
The victim went to her grandmother and told her brother about what had happened to her.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person. The complainant was referred to the hospital for medical attention and the medical report was produced in court as an exhibit.
Ends CKD PN//
Online Reporter