adminMunyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
A 26-YEAR-OLD man from Gokwe has been slapped with a 30-year jail term after he was found guilty of forcibly having anal sex and raping a 14-year-old girl as her “Christmas present”. Johnson Slemba of Situta village under Chief Njelele had pleaded not guilty to rape and aggravated indecent assault when he appeared before Gokwe-Kwekwe regional magistrate Mr Amos Mbobo.
He was convicted on both counts and sentenced to 30 years.
Mr Mbobo suspended five years of the sentence for five years on condition of good behavior.
In passing the sentence, Mr Mbobo considered that the rape was violent.
The State’s case is that on 26 December last year at around 1am, Slemba followed the girl who was in the company of her young brother after spending Christmas at a nearby shopping centre.
Slemba started assaulting the girl’s nine-year-old brother until he ran away and he seized the opportunity after he was left with the girl and dragged her into a nearby bush where he forcibly undressed her and forced her to bend over and forcibly had anal sex with her.
The court heard that Slemba then ordered the minor to lie on her back and he raped her once before threatening her with death if she reported the matter to anyone.
However, the matter came to light the same day at around 7am when the victim told her mother what had transpired. The matter was reported to the police, leading to Slemba’s arrest.
Bongani Ndlovu