Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Beitbridge regional court has convicted a 53-year-old cross-border transporter on two counts of raping his daughter between 2020 and 2023 for alleged ritual purposes.
The man was, however, found not guilty of the second count of rape but was convicted of indecent assault. A few weeks ago, the man had his bid to stop the trial thrown out by regional magistrate, Mr Innocent Bepura.
The accused is alleged to have started raping the teenager from August 2020 from the age of 13 until she fell pregnant at the age of 16 years last year.
The matter has been set for pre-trial this afternoon.
Through his lawyer, Mr Muchineripi Nhire, the cross-border transporter denies all the charges.
The man is accused of raping his daughter from the previous marriage and colluding with his new wife to illegally abort the pregnancy in December last year.
The 47-year-old step-mother has already been jailed for four years by a local magistrate for causing the illegal abortion.
Prosecuting, Miss Tsitsi Mutukwa, said sometime in August 2020, the accused arrived home at night and found the complainant who was 13 years old by then in the company of her stepmother and other children.
Later that evening when everyone retired to bed, he remained with the complainant who was busy with some school holiday work.
He then started to help her with school work and during the process caressed her body and then raped her while she set on his lap after which he told her to go and sleep.
The man tried to rape the girl in her bedroom in October 2022 but failed after finding her sleeping with her elder sister.
The court further heard that the accused raped the complainant in September 2023 after creeping on her when she fell asleep while watching a programme on television.
Later that month the complainant missed her menstrual period and realized she was pregnant and later revealed the matter to a church leader in November who reported to a local pastor.
According to the State papers, on December 3 last year, the stepmother discovered the pregnancy and asked the complainant about its paternity.
The teenager narrated her ordeal and the stepmother bought some medication to terminate the pregnancy as a way of concealing the offense. She also instructed the girl to insert the tablets in her genitals to terminate the pregnancy.
The teenager administered the medication as instructed and after some hours, she felt some abdominal pains.
The issue came to light when one of her friends got information about the incident and advised the religious leaders and the matter was then reported to the police.
She was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital for medical attention where it was discovered the pregnancy had been terminated.
The couple was arrested and the medication used in the illegal abortion was recovered from their house.
Online Reporter