Online Reporter
Moreblessing Ncube
A 42-YEAR-OLD man from Nkayi appeared in court after he allegedly sexually abused his 16-year-old biological daughter on numerous occasions.
The accused, who cannot be named to protect the complainant, appeared before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mark Dzira, who remanded him in custody until 6 September.
Prosecutor Jethro Mada, told the court that the incidents occurred from an unknown month in 2024 until May of this year.
He said at some point in 2024, traditional healers visited the accused person’s homestead, intending to head to the accused’s in-laws’ home.
“The wife of the accused accompanied the traditional healers, leaving the accused, the complainant and the complainant’s younger sister at home. The accused told the younger daughter to go and play, leaving him alone with the complainant,” said the prosecutor.
He allegedly sexually abused her, threatening to kill her with a spear and an axe if she dared to scream or report the incident to anyone.
She testified that the accused threatened her, saying that if she told her mother, he would kill her and then commit suicide by hanging himself.
The complainant reported the matter to her mother, who said she would monitor the accused to see if he would repeat the incident.
Later this year, when the complainant’s mother went to Esingeni, the accused repeated the abuse again, threatening her with a spear and an axe.
When her mother returned, the complainant told her about the incident, but her mother hesitated to confront the accused, expressing fear that he would kill her.
In another incident, when the complainant’s mother went to Dlawa, the complainant was cleaning the house when the accused again threatened her with a spear and an axe, ordering her to lie down and remain silent.
The complainant eventually confided in her mother, but her mother took no action again.
It was only after the complainant ran to report the matter to her aunt that it was taken to the police.
In his defence, the accused, sickeningly claimed that the incidents made the complainant happy, asserting that she enjoyed the abuse since she did not report the incidents to the police.
