adminhis kitchen hut when the school girl asked for drinking water.
Hlanganyana asked the girl to come into the kitchen and fetch the water herself.
He, however, raped the girl when she had finished drinking the water.
Hlanganyana appeared before Chinhoyi regional magistrate Mr Never Katiyo facing two counts of rape which he denied but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence from the State.
Mr Katiyo sentenced Hlanganyana to 13 years in prison before setting aside four years on condition that he does not commit an offence of a similar nature in the next five years. Prosecutor Ms Farai Zacharia proved that on the fateful day, the girl was on her way to school when he passed by Hlanganyana’s homestead and asked for water.
Hlanganyana was alone as his wife was in another village.
He invited the girl into the house and Hlanganyana locked the door before raping her while he covered her mouth to stifle her screams.
Hlanganyana raped the girl again before threatening to stab her with a knife if she revealed the incident to anyone.
The girl attended school but her mother noticed that she was having problems walking and quizzed her before making a report to the police leading to Hlanganyana’s arrest.
Hlanganyana denied the charge saying the girl’s family wanted to fix him for assaulting one of her relatives who allowed their cattle to destroy his vegetable garden.
He said there was bad blood between the families.
Online Reporter