Chronicle Editor
Nyaradzo Bakari, Chronicle Reporter
A FORM Four pupil at Emakhandeni High School in Bulawayo has appeared in court for having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend whom he also assaulted for talking to another schoolboy.
The schoolboy (18) is an orphan.
After he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, the pupil was questioned by the police and he revealed that he had previously had sex with the girl after she invited him home.
He claimed he seduced her with her sister’s help.
He was subsequently charged with having sex with a minor.
The schoolboy pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor before Magistrate Stephen Ndhlovu.
The magistrate sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar crime in five years.
“It will be unfair for the court to punish only you because the complainant consented and you are also a student,” said Mr Ndhlovu. “I will sentence you to 12 months in jail which I shall suspend on condition that you do not commit a similar crime in five years.”
Prosecuting, Mr Mufaro Mageza said the schoolboy and the girl were in a relationship.
He said early this year, he saw her with another schoolboy during sports at school and assaulted her.
In a statement read out in court, the girl said she had planned to end their relationship.
“At the beginning of this year, he assaulted me because I was standing with a male pupil and I had not consented to his demands for sex,” said the complainant.
“I intended to end the relationship but he assaulted me when I told him I wanted out of the relationship.”
The schoolboy said the complainant consented to sex as she invited him to her home when her grandmother was away and seduced him.
“When I got to her house, she sat on my lap and started kissing me. I tried resisting and went out of the house but she and her sisters followed me and begged me to stay saying they had already prepared a bed for us,” he said.
“I could not disappoint my girlfriend so I stayed and we had sexual intercourse twice.”
The complainant’s grandmother said she noticed some changes in her granddaughter’s behaviour and decided to report to the school deputy headmaster who advised her to report the matter to the police.
She did so and the complainant was taken to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical examination. A medical report showed that she was now sexually active.
Magistrate Ndhlovu told the schoolboy to concentrate on his studies and not chase after girls.
“You are an orphan; if you don’t change your life yourself, no one will. Focus on behaviour change and your studies not on sexual intercourse,” he said.
“You are still young for this.”
@NyarieBakie
Online Reporter