Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
A 34-year-old uncle from Mberengwa District in the Midlands Province has been slapped with a 68-year prison sentence after he was convicted of four counts of raping his 12-year-old niece.
The accused, whose name has been withheld to protect the victim, but is from Tata Village under Chief Mataruse, was convicted of four counts of rape by Zvishavane regional magistrate, Mr Tayengwa Sangster.
The complainant was a Grade Seven pupil.
Mr Sangster sentenced the accused to 17 years in prison for each count bringing the total to 68 years.
He however, ordered count one and two to run concurrently and also count three and four leaving the accused with 34 effective years in jail.
Mr Sangster said the accused deserved a long custodial sentence for abusing his niece who looked up to him for safety and protection.
“What the accused did warrants a long custodial sentence so as to deter would be offenders,” he said.
Prosecutor, Ms Melissa Makombe, said sometime during the month of April last year the complainant was sleeping in the kitchen hut alone.
The court heard that the accused entered the hut and raped the complainant once and left without saying anything.
The complainant did not inform anyone about the rape.
Ms Makombe told the court that the accused raped the complainant again on three different occasions and the complainant did not report the sexual assault to anyone.
“Sometime during the month of May 2025, the complainant missed her period and informed the accused who told her she was pregnant.
“The accused then advised her to run away from home,” said Ms Makombe.
When she ran away from home, the complainant went to stay with relatives at Macadam Mine who then noticed that she was pregnant.
“The relatives interviewed the complainant about the pregnancy and she informed them that the accused person had raped her four times,” said Ms Makombe.
The relatives reported the matter to the police leading to the accused’s arrest.
derick.khumalo